The haunting history of the Paris Catacombs - Stephanie H. Smith

The Paris Catacombs are one of Paris’ many popular tourist attractions, though only a small section of the sprawling underground ossuary is open to the public. And the ossuary itself only occupies a small part of the vast underground network of tunnels beneath Paris. The ground under Paris is rich in limestone and plaster, which were mined to build the city as it grew. But by the 18th century, as the city became bigger and heavier, it put pressure on the abandoned mine tunnels, which were prone to dangerous collapses. King Louis XVI ordered them mapped and reinforced, creating a huge, stable, and empty space beneath Paris.

When the issue of overcrowded urban cemeteries emerged as a threat to public health, the empty tunnels offered a solution to the problem and, in 1785, arrangements were made to move millions of bones into the underground tunnels. Nearly 80 years later, in 1852, Scientific American reported that the undecayed fat from the bodies was turned into soap and candles, but the educator of this piece was unable to find any evidence supporting this claim.

While the bones were originally dumped large piles, Napoleon – seeing a widespread change in attitudes towards life, death, and equality, reflected in the growing Romantic movement – ordered a small section of the ossuary curated and opened to the public in 1809. Since then, millions of tourists have visited the Catacombs, each reflecting on the experience in different ways – some laugh and poke bones, while others find the space somber and reflective.

Other famous underground crypts include the Catacombs of St. Callixtus used by Roman Christians in the 3rd century CE and the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily.

For more on the establishment of the Parisian Catacombs and larger changes in burial practices in the modern period, see Erin-Marie Legacey, Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780–1830.