Les Catacombes

Les Catacombs

An underground ossuary (about 100 feet below Paris) that holds bones of more the 6 million people. Somewhere among the millions of bones are the remains of Robespierre. The Catacombs were originally built in the 18th century when the quartier Les Halles was struck by disease and all of the above ground cemeteries were becoming over-crowded. Any bodies that were "not of importance" aka non-famous people were exhumed and buried underground. Over the years the Catacombs grew to cover almost 30km (almost 19 miles). Today only a small area is open to the public (most the areas where underground temples and places of worship were built). Some of the areas are still accessible but the city of Paris try very hard to keep it all a secret. Some parts of the tunnels are covered in graffiti and others are broken into on occasion to host parties. Paris has employed a special police force specifically for monitoring the Catacombs. 


here is a link to images from an edition of National Geographic of some of the tunnels with graffiti:  Catacombs Graffiti


A horror movie was made too in 2007 staring no other than the singer Pink. The movie takes place in the Catacombs and is about a girl who comes to visit her sister in Paris and they go to a rave in one of the hidden tunnels of the Catacombs. As in true horror cliche plots, there is a killer on the loose in the tunnels and he is slowly hunting down the party-goers. Here is the trailer: Catacombs Movie Trailer

"Stop! This is the empire of the dead!"