Catacombs of Paris, the world of the dead

There is a crypt below the picturesque city of Paris, which one of the most terrifying attractions in the world. It is also one of the most important tourist attractions in Paris. The long, narrow tunnels that hold the remains of 6 million people. We prepared this article from our visit in the Catacombs in Paris.

Spirituality,Tourist Attraction,Catacombs,Museum,

There is a crypt below the picturesque city of Paris, which one of the most terrifying attractions in the world. It is also one of the most important tourist attractions in Paris. The long, narrow tunnels that hold the remains of 6 million people. Walking through a large number of skulls and skeletons - not everyone"s job. So, we only recommend visiting brave people who are interested in seeing the cramped, dark and horrifying places.

During the time of the Roman Empire in present-day France, the people of Paris buried their dead around the city, but gradually built cemeteries to bring their dead closer to them. In the year 1130, the largest and best cemetery in Paris was the Central Cemetery, or the sacred graveyard of the innocent. The cemetery was used from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century and was considered the oldest and largest cemetery in Paris. Less than a century after the construction of this cemetery, the cemetery space was filled with the dead. So the people of Paris began to bury their loved ones" bodies in their parks and gardens and the city was slowly becoming a world of the dead. In the spring of 1780, one of the walls of the central cemetery in Paris collapsed as a result of the heavy rains that caused the dead bodies to be scattered in the area, and frightened Paris residents.

There was a large limestone mine around Paris that was used until the 12th century, But the miners hit parts that could no longer be drilled there. So they left the tunnels on their own. It was at this time that people decided to use this place to bury their dead. It took a while to prepare the mine for burying the dead, but because there were still rails and wagons used to carry the limestone in the mine, transporting the dead to the underground tunnels was not a difficult task and quickly went ahead.

On April 7, 1786, the graveyard of the dead (Catacombs) was consecrated for bones. For the next two years, the remains of the corpses would only be brought there at night. After the bones were placed there, the priest came to the crypt and sang religious songs next to the bones and then wore a black cloth on the bones. However, it took more time to collect bones from around the city. The bones of the innocent cemetery, or central cemetery, were transferred to the mine between 1786 and 1788, and most of the rest of the cemeteryes bones were brought between 1787 and 1814. From the beginning of the French Revolution, the dead were buried directly in the crypt. Among those buried here are members of the Swiss Guard, those killed during the September massacre, and those killed in the French Revolution by the guillotine. Also the bodies of celebrities such as François Rabelais and Jean de La Fontaine (writer), Charles Perraul (French poet and storyteller), Simon Vouet (painter), and Salomon de Bros. Brosse (The architect of the Luxembourg palace) and many other French celebrities are buried in the graveyard of the dead.

In year 1859, during the rebuilding of Paris by Baron Osman, the last phase of the displacement of the bones of the corpses was completed, and this was completed in year 1860. After some time this crypt was completely forgotten by the people and no one even thought of the fact that Paris now is on the six million human bodies. Until the early 19th century some Parisians illegally accessed these crypts. They even repired some of these crypts and turned them into creative places. for example, One of them had become a secret amphitheater with a large movie theater, broadcasting equipment, and several movies and chairs. It is estimated that about 300 of these people were illegally entering the crypts each week through secret ways.

As the news became public, this crypt again attracted attention and as a result, renovations took place and access was made to the area around the Duffer-Resservo Square was created and the graveyard of the dead was opened to the public in 1874. these crypts are more than 300 km below the city of Paris. Although these crypts are open to the public today, the visitors will only have access to limited portions of this Crypt. Visiting other parts of these crypts has been illegal since year 1955.

To make the excitement of tourists more exciting, they have also put up panels with scary phrases in the dead catwalk that have themes such as Welcome to the Dead, Here"s Death waiting for you, and so on; just take a deep breath and Keep calm