{"id":107,"date":"2016-07-09T18:04:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-09T23:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/?p=107"},"modified":"2016-07-09T18:10:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-09T23:10:48","slug":"the-dark-side-of-paris-les-catacombes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/2016\/07\/09\/the-dark-side-of-paris-les-catacombes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Side of Paris :  Les Catacombes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Literally, one metro stop from our dorms (\u201cle Cit\u00e9 Universitaire\u201d) lies the dark side of Paris \u2013 known simply as <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.catacombes.paris.fr\/\">Les Catacombes<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 While not exactly catacombs in the truest sense of the word (it\u2019s actually an ossuary), that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s any less interesting.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, <em>Les Catacombes<\/em> are an incredibly popular tourist spot.\u00a0 It is <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through\">not uncommon <\/span>expected that you will find a long and winding line around the site during operating hours\u2026just as I found out during our first excursion into the city.\u00a0 With this in mind, I arrived extra early (8:45am) for the (10am) opening only to find myself waiting behind another 50 people who beat me there.\u00a0 However, I am convinced that I <em>saved<\/em> a lot of time by coming so early, as I was in the first wave to enter (only 200 at a time are allowed in). Don\u2019t believe me? \u00a0Take a look at this picture of the queue from the misstourist blog<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_108\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-108\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/catacombs-paris-crypt-queue1-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"source: http:\/\/misstourist.com\/6-places-in-paris-with-the-longest-queues-and-how-to-avoid-them\/\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/catacombs-paris-crypt-queue1-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/catacombs-paris-crypt-queue1-497x300.jpg 497w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/catacombs-paris-crypt-queue1.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Typical queue at Les Catacombes \u00a0 source: http:\/\/misstourist.com\/6-places-in-paris-with-the-longest-queues-and-how-to-avoid-them\/<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I was lucky also, to have a tour group immediately behind me, so I gained a great introduction to Les Catacombes.\u00a0 So interesting, I must share:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Les Catacombes began as limestone quarries outside the city of Paris. As Paris continued to grow, so did the quarries and much of this space eventually created instability to the structures above. Originally the area was named \u201cPlace D\u2019Enfer (Hell\u2019s Gate) until the French Revolution in 1789.\u00a0 This name comes from the common sight of smoke rising from the ground entries, from the seedy individuals who called it home. \u00a0(Likely from the fires they burned below ground to keep warm, etc.&#8211;temperature in <em>Les Catacombes<\/em> is a steady 57\u00baF). \u00a0Today, however, the area is called Denfert-Rouchereau.\n<p><div id=\"attachment_109\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-109\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-109\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160702_144118-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Lion of Belfort located at the Place de Denfert Rochereau\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160702_144118-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160702_144118-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-109\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lion of Belfort located at the Place de Denfert Rochereau<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>By the 18<sup>th<\/sup> century, Paris was experiencing yet another problem: it had no place to bury its dead.\u00a0 As the city grew, its outlying areas (where many of the cemeteries were located) were now part of the city and the cemeteries were causing problems for the residents and shopkeepers.\u00a0 Water and soil were contaminated, posing health risks to residents. (Side note:\u00a0 \u00a0The tour guide mentioned that wine and milk would spoil within hours and perfume was unable to be sold due to the stench in the air).\u00a0 \u00a0Over- burying in cemeteries also created instability to the area (due to expanse of abandoned quarries underneath) and in 1780, the situation was so dire that a solution was required.\u00a0 That solution:\u00a0 <em>les Catacombes<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>So, in essence, <em>Les Catacombes<\/em> provided a solution to settle these two distinct problems. And, what a clever idea it was.\u00a0 It actually took over 12 years to move the bodies from the cemeteries (work was only done at night so as to not scare\/disturb residents).<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-110\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_105719-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_105719\" width=\"194\" height=\"255\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you arrive at <em>les Catacombes<\/em>, you must descend 130 steps down a spiral staircase (yes, it did make me a little dizzy, actually!) and you realize that it is almost like an\u00a0underground city, with \u201cavenues\u201d and arches, columns and art\u2026but instead of using bricks and mortar, these walls are made with skulls and leg bones.\u00a0 It is absolutely fascinating to see just how far and wide these tunnels of bones go (and to realize that every two leg bones belong to one person\u2026it\u2019s easy to see why there is an estimated 6.7 million skeletons placed down there).<\/p>\n<p>It may be interesting to know that much care has been taken to denote which cemeteries the bones came from and when brought to the location (despite the fact that there are no indications of who the bones belonged to in the first place).\u00a0 Much care, too, has been taken in creating &#8220;wall&#8221; that is not only efficient but even created with purpose (there are many arrangements created by the skulls and bones into patterns like hearts, crosses, etc.).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_111\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-111\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_104703-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"The black line on the ceiling was to direct tourists through les Catacombes (before electricity).\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_104703-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_104703-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-111\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The black line on the ceiling was to direct tourists through les Catacombes (before electricity).<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_112\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-112\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-112\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110010-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Getting a lot of great information from the audio guide.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110010-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110010-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-112\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Getting a lot of great information from the audio guide.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_115\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-115 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110056-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_110056\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110056-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110056-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patterns created from the bones can be seen along many of the walls, like this heart shape created out of skulls.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_113\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-113\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-113 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110026-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_110026\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110026-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110026-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110026-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110026-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Les Catacombes are believed to house the bones of approximately 6.7 million people.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-114\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110041-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_110041\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110041-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110041-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110323-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_110323\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110323-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110323-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-117\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110851-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_110851\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110851-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110851-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110851-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_110851-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_118\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-118\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111233-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"The depth of the stacked bones.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111233-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111233-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111233-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111233-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-118\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The depth of the stacked bones&#8230;.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_119\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-119\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-119 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111543-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_20160709_111543\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111543-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111543-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111543-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_111543-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-119\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Fontaine de la Samaritaine (Samaritan woman\u2019s fountain)<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_120\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-120\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-120\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_112228-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"One of the first cemeteries (Les Innocents) where the bones removed and transferred to Les Catacombes.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_112228-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2016\/07\/IMG_20160709_112228-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the first cemeteries (Les Innocents) where the bones were removed and transferred to Les Catacombes.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>All in all, it was extremely interesting (I would highly advise the audio guide as well).<\/p>\n<p>Bon weekend, tout le monde (everyone)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Literally, one metro stop from our dorms (\u201cle Cit\u00e9 Universitaire\u201d) lies the dark side of Paris \u2013 known simply as Les Catacombes.\u00a0 While not exactly catacombs in the truest sense of the word (it\u2019s actually an ossuary), that doesn\u2019t mean &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/2016\/07\/09\/the-dark-side-of-paris-les-catacombes\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/paris-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}