We all know about Paris. It is one of the most famous cities in the world, it is also the capital of France. We also know that the Eiffel Tower is situated there. It is one of the oldest cities, it has also earned the nickname of City of Love. The city is also famous for its expensive fashion.
Today, we are not going to talk about what is on the surface of Paris. Rather, we will talk about what is beneath this beautiful city.
The Catacombs of Paris
The Catacombs of Paris is connected to many various historical events. But the real question is why built such underground ossuary.
To find the answer we need to go back to 1760's. At that time the Parisians were facing a serious problem which was the growing number of the dead in the cemeteries. It was because of diseases and famine. During that period King Louis XV was the ruler. He thought that the solution to the problem was to forbid burials from happening in the grounds of Paris. But the Church stood against it. In the year 1786, heavy rainfall caused one of the cemeteries' walls to break down because of the overflowing number of corpses. One of the cemeteries was Les Innocents. The unbearable smell of the corpses started to spread around the nearby areas. During that year, grounds of various areas inside Paris became unstable and collapsed which lead to the discovery of the long-lost underground network of mined tunnels. These tunnels were almost two thousand years old. As the tunnels had empty spaces, this gave birth to an idea of turning these tunnels into the ossuary.
So they started to move the bones of millions of dead bodies in 1786. They transported bones from all most all the known cemeteries of Paris at that time. The transportation of the bones always took place at night. It took 12 years to transport all the bones. Through the process, they created the creepiest and artistic underground masterpiece.
Now, imagine yourself walking among 6 million dead people. Today, the catacombs are free to all to visit. This place is not for the people who have the weak heart. You can visit 1.5 kilometers of it. But it is rumored to be more than 200 kilometers. There is only one entrance for the public. But many people think there are various entrances. There are many ghost stories connected to the catacombs. You can check them out online if you want. There is a cult known as Cataphiles who always try to discover new passageways of the catacombs.
Catacombs of Paris is really one of the creepiest monuments known to man.
If you want to ever visit, here is a link to a website where tickets are sold:
Before buying tickets read the conditions.
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