Catacombs of Paris

Beneath the streets of southern Paris, the bones of millions of former Parisians line the walls of old limestone quarry tunnels, stacked into walls of skulls and long bones. The Catacombs of Paris (Catacombes de Paris on signs) began in 1786, when overflowing city cemeteries such as the Cimetière des Innocents were emptied for public health reasons and their remains moved underground. In the early nineteenth century the ossuary was arranged in the patterns seen today, with inscriptions, poems and reflections on mortality set among the bones.

The entrance is at Place Denfert-Rochereau. Visitors descend a long spiral staircase to about 20 metres below ground and follow a walk of a little over a kilometre and a half. The route passes quarry galleries and carved stone features before reaching the ossuary itself. The tunnels are cool, narrow in places and dim, and there are many steps down and back up, so the visit suits people comfortable with confined spaces and stairs. Most people spend about an hour underground.