They are an object of fascination and legends in which the underground joins the unconscious and builds a plural, changing mythology, mixed with stories, whispered names, real and imaginary facts to which literature, films and, more recently, social media posts continued to bring life. Their history has its roots in the geological particularities of a Parisian subsoil rich in sedimentary deposits used for centuries in the construction of buildings and monuments in the capital. But this story took shape especially at the end of the 18th century under the pressure of two concomitant problems: the repeated collapse of underground galleries which threatened the dwellings of the capital and led in 1777 to the creation of the General Inspectorate of Quarries (IGC ), and the overcrowding of communal cemeteries that centuries of use have filled to overflowing. So much so that in 1780 the wall of a cellar adjoining the large cemetery of the Innocents, near our contemporary Halles, collapsed and let heaps of corpses and bones spill out. The decision was then taken to transfer these human remains to the galleries of former quarries specially fitted out under the plain of Montrouge, outside the walls of the then city and near the current Place Denfert-Rochereau.
From 1785, several campaigns to transfer bones from municipal cemeteries were organized in the underground passages, which were given the evocative name of “catacombs”, in reference to the catacombs of Rome. The bones of more than six million Parisians are thus moved, including those of Rabelais, La Fontaine, Molière, Mansart, Lully, Robespierre, Danton and Lavoisier. From 1809, the second Inspector General of Quarries, Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, opened the premises to the public and fitted out the galleries by alternating rows of bones with elements of ancient architecture and funerary decoration.
Doric pillars, altars and literary inscriptions line the route of the largest underground ossuary in the world, which quickly attracts a public captivated by the romantic-macabre decor. Nadar, Balzac, Dumas and many other artists then seized on the myth, sometimes maintaining confusion with the immense network of galleries of which the catacombs are in fact only a tiny part. And the success is undeniable. The Paris Catacombs, which can be accessed through one of the two pavilions built by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux in 1787, now welcome nearly 600,000 visitors a year. They are part of the Paris Musées network, which brings together the 14 museums and sites of the City of Paris.
