Catacombs of Paris

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The Catacombs of Paris is a famous burial place in Paris, France. It is a network of subterranean tunnels and rooms located in what were Roman-era limestone quarries. The quarries were converted into a mass tomb near the end of the 18^th century. It is most widely known as "the catacombs", but the official title is "les carrières de Paris" or "the quarries of Paris."

History

Burial use in the depleted quarries was established in 1786 by the order of Monsieur Thiroux de Crosne, Lt. General of Police, and by Monsieur Guillaumot, Inspector General of Quarries. At the time, the Les Halles district in the middle of the city was suffering from disease, due to contamination caused by improper burials and mass graves in churchyard cemeteries, especially the large Cimetière des Innocents. It was decided to discreetly remove the bones and place them in the abandoned quarries.

Remains from the cemetery of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs were among the first to be moved. Bodies of the dead from the riots in the Place de Greve, the Hotel de Brienne, and Rue Meslee were put in the catacombs on August 28 and 29, 1788.

The catacomb walls are covered in graffiti dating from the 18^th century onwards. In the 19^th century, there is evidence that some families even lived in the catacombs. Victor Hugo used his knowledge about the tunnel system in his novel Les Misérables. In 1871 communards killed a group of monarchists in one chamber. During World War II, Parisian members of the French Resistance used the tunnel system. Also during this period, German soldiers established an underground bunker in the catacombs below Lycee Montaigne, a high school in the 6^ème arrondissement. (This bunker is not in the tourist route and can only be seen during an "Unofficial Visit", see below.)

The underground tunnels and chambers have long posed problems to the safety of constructions in Paris. Quarries sometimes cave in, occasionally resulting in a hole above the ground and causing damage to buildings. To prevent this, the IGC, Inspection générale des Carrières (General Inspection of the Quarries) was established in 1777 by the government in order to monitor the current quarries and prohibit the digging of new quarries. The IGC did, however, dig observation tunnels in order to provide themselves with better access to the quarries so that they might better monitor, repair, and map the consolidated quarries.

The monitoring and consolidation work has continued to this day. Because of the number of quarries, subway tunnels, train tunnels and sewer tunnels that have been dug underneath Paris, as well as the softness of the stone involved, extra caution is taken when new construction is attempted or new tunnels are dug. (This did not prevent problems during the digging of Paris Metro Line 14.)

The catacombs today: unauthorized visits

Entrance to the catacombs is restricted. The section of the catacombs open to the public is only a small part of an extensive network of underground tunnels, which spans more than 300km (about 186 miles) in length.

Unauthorized visits to the underground quarries of Paris are illegal and possibly dangerous. However, secret entrances are scattered throughout Paris, accessed through the sewers or metro; certain manholes also lead to the catacombs. Some unofficial visitors have the keys to certain official entrances.

On rare occasions drug dealers, addicts, eccentrics and people who want to hold clandestine meetings or unusual parties do illegally enter the catacombs. But most of those who visit the catacombs are simply urban explorers. Specifically, they are cataphiles. They go down for a day, a night, or perhaps a week in order to explore, hang out, take photos, paint murals, create maps, clean up rooms, dig chatiers, and have fun.

Sneaking into the catacombs has been illegal since November 2, 1955. There is a €60 fine if one gets caught by the cataflics -- the special police who patrol the catacombs.

While unofficial visits to the former quarries are mostly safe, dangers do exist. The tunnel system is complex, and though some streets have plaques indicating the name of the street above, it is still quite easy to get lost. A good guide is indispensable, and even many good guides still refer to a map from time to time.

Some of the tunnels are partially flooded. There are aging telephone wires, pipes, etc. that can hinder progress; cave-ins, although rare, occasionally occur. Some passages are extremely low or narrow.

Cataphile ethics include leaving no garbage behind and never leaving manholes open (which would create a danger for the street-side populace, and thus inspire officials to seal the entrance). Most cataphiles also look down upon tagging, which is a form of graffiti consisting in a stylized signature.

In September 2004, an underground movie theater run by the Mexican Perforation — a French artistic movement that seeks to convey their ideas using underground places — was discovered by the French police.

The Catacombs in fiction

Books

• In Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum, the Paris catacombs were the resting place of a parchment concerning The Templars.
• Many scenes in Bad Voltage, an 80s cyberpunk novel by Jonathan Littell, take place in the catacombs. The author is suspected of being a cataphile.
• In Barbara Hambly's novel Those Who Hunt the Night, which takes place in 1907, two characters investigating the murders of London vampires descend into the catacombs. There they find Brother Anthony, a 600 year old priest turned vampire, living among the bones of the dead. Anthony believes that if he helps the dead find and assemble their bones when the trumpet sounds on Judgement Day he will win redemption for his sins.

Films

• The cult classic Les Gaspards, known in English as The Holes, was filmed in and revolves around the catacombs. It was made in 1974 and stars a young Gerard Depardieu.
• An upcoming film featuring the singer P!nk takes place in the Paris catacombs, even though they did not receive permission to film there.
• Though not truly filmed in the Parisian catacombs, a Hollywood set created to mimic the catacomb ambiance was used in the production of the music video Slither (song) by the rock band Velvet Revolver.

Computer and video games

• In the computer game , the player has to enter the Paris catacombs via a manhole in order to find a clue that leads to the next part of the game.
• In Deus Ex, set in 2052, the player has to traverse part of the catacombs to reach another area of the city. The catacombs in the game's world are home to a clandestine group of French revolutionaries named Silhouette, who make their home in the German World War II bunker. A news terminal found in a building that serves as the catacombs entrance gives a brief history of the catacombs.
• In , one of the missions involves traversing the catacombs in order to escape German authorities after a mission to steal weapons goes bad.
• In Nancy Drew Danger by Design, Nancy enters the catacombs to retreive important clues.

References

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