Paris is the known as the City of Light, but it’s worth venturing down into its literal dark side, the Paris Catacombs. Beneath the pretty boulevards and flowery cafes lies a maze of tunnels filled with the bones of over six million Parisians. It is an impressive tribute to death and a remarkable feat of urban planning.
Location
Address: 1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France
The Catacombs are located in the Montparnasse neighborhood in the 14th Arrondissement, and the entrance is just across the street from the Denfert-Rochereau Metro station.
Hours: 9:45 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Tuesday – Sunday (closed Mondays)
Tickets: You MUST book in advance online for standard, self-guided admission tickets. They cost $35 and go on sale 7 days in advance, 10 a.m. Central European time. I live in the Eastern time zone so I treated this like buying tickets to a popular show: I clicked the site at 4:45 a.m. the Saturday before we hoped to go, then as soon as I got let in at 5 a.m., I bought tickets for the 11 a.m. slot the following Saturday. If you can’t snag a regular ticket, consider a guided tour through GetYourGuide (affiliate link).
History
Back in the late 1700s, Paris was facing serious health hazards posed by overcrowded cemeteries. Cemeteries like the Holy Innocents opened in the Middle Ages and were now overflowing with mass graves. Around the same time, the abandoned quarry tunnels underneath the city had become unstable, leading to above-ground building collapses. The solution? Moving the dead below ground. Between 1785 and the early 1800s, workers emptied cemeteries and transferred the remains into the quarry tunnels. Eventually the bones were carefully stacked into patterns and galleries, creating the ossuary we see today.
It’s estimated that the Catacombs are the final resting place for more than 6 million Parisians. There’s no way of knowing exactly who’s in there but it’s likely to hold the remains of French greats like fairy tale writer Charles Perrault (“Little Red Riding Hood” “Cinderella”).
Almost since they were opened to the public, the Catacombs have hosted seen many unsanctioned parties from an underground concert with about 50 musicians in 1897 to a secret cinema discovered in 2004. While it’s cool to read about these uncharted tunnels, this is absolutely a “fuck around and find out” situation. Please be safe!
What to expect
Your journey begins down 131 spiraling steps. The temperature is a cool 57°F/14°C year-round and the walls get closer as you wind your way through the tunnels. The portion of the Catacombs open to the public is known as the Denfert-Rochereau Ossuary. It’s just under a mile (1.5 kilometers) and takes about an hour to complete the self-guided tour. This is how long it took us and we really took our time.
Above the ossuary entrance, you’ll see a sign quoting Virgil:
“Arrête ! C’est ici l’empire de la mort” (“Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead”). I love this! There are 135 quotes throughout the passageways, in Latin and French, that really set the tone.
One of the most striking displays is the Crypt of Passions, a column of bones stacked into a wide, curved column with stripes of skulls.
Tips for Visiting the Catacombs
- Book your ticket early!
- Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes you don’t mind getting a little messed up. The floor can be uneven and damp. Also there are a lot of stairs.
- Bring a light jacket or sweater. It’s chilly underground all year.
- Leave big bags at home.
- No flash photography or bulky equipment.
- Be respectful. Do not touch the bones.
Other Morbid Must-Sees in Paris
- Montparnasse Cemetery – Just a short walk from the Catacombs, this cemetery is the serene resting place of Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.
- Père Lachaise Cemetery – Further afield, but worth it for the drama. Come for the celebrity graves (Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf), stay for the sprawling, Gothic vibes.
- Fragonard Museum of Veterinary Anatomy – Located outside the city center in Maisons-Alfort, this museum houses preserved animal (and some human) specimens.
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