Catacombes

I went to the Catacombes on a Friday afternoon, sort of on a whim. Let me tell you, it is not a good idea to go into underground caves, filled with bones, by yourself. It was freakkky. The catacombes originated as limestone quarries for Parisian building projects like 500 years ago, but as limestone started to become less desired the quarries started to close down. At about the same time there was a crisis in the center of the city. Due to remanants of the plague and other public health crisis, there were lots of dead bodies lying around (nice huh?). Although they had a large cemetery near Les Halles (just north of the Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame is situated), the cemetery was filling to quickly. On top of that the dead bodies in the cemetery were continuing to infect the population of Paris. It was decided then, that the bodies would be exhumed, and moved into the abandoned quarries. Now if you go you'll be able to see millions of bones lined up in what literally appears to be a sort of decorative fashion.

When you start a visit at the Catacombes you must descend down into the quarries. This is done by going down about eight floors on a spiral staircase. You then arrive in a small chamber where they have some posters explaining what you are going to see. The first 500 meters of the Catacombes are just narrow tunnels, not for the claustrophobic. These tunnels show the nature of the quarries, and there are some explanations of the methods the French used to mine out the limestone. You then reach a doorway with a large sign that says something like "Beware, you are passing into the realm of the dead." A bit morbid and strange, but really eerie too. Going through this doorway you are immediately see stacks and stacks of bones. It is strange because the bones are stacked very neatly, femurs together, arms together, and so on. It's quite morbid and freaky. I walked through really fast, I didn't really like it. At the end of these tunnels you arrive at another staircase and have to climb back up. Before exiting they check your bag, to make sure you haven't stolen anything from the tunnels (ha! Like I would stick a femur in my purse!), and then you step out into the fresh air. It's strange, but really refreshing to be back outside.

There's some photos in here, with some others!

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