Catacombs of Paris
The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, which hold the remains of more than six million people. Extending south from the Barrière d’Enfer (“Gate of Hell”) former city gate, this ossuary was created as part of the effort to eliminate the city’s overflowing cemeteries.
Basic information
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The ossuary remained largely forgotten until it became a novelty-place for concerts and other private events in the early 19th century; after further renovations and the construction of accesses around Place Denfert-Rochereau, it was opened to public visitation from 1874.
Since 2013, the Catacombs number among the fourteen City of Paris Museums managed by Paris Musées.
⇒ Please read before your visit (map)
Cemeteries whose remains were moved to the Catacombs include Saints-Innocents (the largest by far with about 2 million buried over 600 years of operation), Saint-Étienne-des-Grès (one of the oldest), Madeleine Cemetery, Errancis Cemetery (used for the victims of the French Revolution), and Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux.
Catacombs in their first years were a disorganized bone repository, but Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, director of the Paris Mine Inspection Service from 1810, had renovations done that would transform the caverns into a visitable mausoleum.
In addition to directing the stacking of skulls and femurs into the patterns seen in the catacombs today, he used the cemetery decorations he could find to complement the walls of bones.
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Must to See & Do
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Transport around Paris
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RATP ::: Metro timetables • Bus timetables • Tramway timetables • RER timetables
⇒ Public transport (parisinfo.com) • Getting to France (uk.france.fr)
sobus.travel — sells bus tickets for all the bus companies.
The Noctilien (Map of Noctilien) is a night bus service that operates in Paris and the Paris region from 12.30am to 5.30am. Ouibus • Isilines • FlixBus • Eurolines • Megabus >> (*Intercity buses in France)
Trains are a great way to get around in France. For regional trains, schedules can be found at ter.sncf.com. You can get from pretty much anywhere to anywhere else by train.
For long distances, use the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or High-speed train) on which reservations are obligatory. TGV • Thello • Ouigo. + RailEurope • Eurostar • Thalys • izy (Paris-Brussels) • TGV Lyria (Switzerland) • DB (Germany) • RENFE (Barcelona) >> *Rail travel in France
Several weekends throughout the year in France are known as ‘Black Saturday’ (Samedi noir) because of the start or end of school holidays and the coinciding traffic jams on French roads caused by thousands of tourists travelling to and from their holiday destinations. When possible it is wise to avoid these days. For traffic reports, see the website of the French traffic service.
⇒ Driving in France (wikivoyage)
aeroport.fr – list of airports in France. / parisaeroport.fr – Paris airport information.
Brittany Ferries • P&O Ferries • DFDS Seaways
England ⇔ France:
- P&O Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Calais.
- DFDS Seaways – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Dunkirk.
- LD Lines – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Le Havre.
- Brittany Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Caen, Cherbourg, andSt Malo, from Poole to Cherbourg and from Plymouth to Roscoff.
- Condor Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Poole to St Malo and Weymouth to St Malo.
Ireland ⇔ France:
- Brittany Ferries – operate ferry services from Cork to Roscoff.
- Celtic Link Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg.
- Irish Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and from Rosslare to Roscoff.
Video source: Geographics
Catacombs (wiki)
Ossuary (wiki)
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