Saturday, January 6, 2007

Day 4: Les Catacombs

On our way to the Catacombs. The Cité metro platform.

Jeepers creepers. Not the most uplifting of tourist attractions, but for whatever reason I really, really wanted to go. The Catacombs are a bunch of tunnels in the 14th district. It began as a limestone quarry providing building materials for Notre Dame and other structures around town. In the eighteenth century, the remains of millions of Parisians were transferred here due to overcrowded cemeteries (also, I read somewhere that many bodies were exhumed and moved there because of some disease spreading around Paris). During WWII, the Resistance held secret meetings there. Today, it's an unnerving collection of bones deep underground.

The bones, meticulously arranged.

3 comments:

junebee said...

I know of those catacombs but honestly, I don't think you could pay me enough to tour it.

Octopus Grigori said...

le creepy

Anonymous said...

YAY...the Cite's metro is the coolest! i think o.g. had said that it was like being in the city of lost children...totally!