Paris: The Catacombs

When we travel, especially to a larger city like Paris, I usually have a jam-packed itinerary because I always want to make the most of the time we have. I try to leave a few hours unplanned though, so that we can have some down time or add things that we might not have known about ahead of time. Our second morning in Paris was open, so we let the girls decide where we should go. It didn't take them long to come up with The Catacombs!

About 20 meters below the streets of Paris lies a labyrinth where the stones used to build the city were mined. Today it is home to the remains of over 6 million Parisians, thus earning its reputation as the World's Largest Grave. Between the late 18th and mid 19th centuries, Parisian cemeteries were being shut down due to the health risk they posed to the public, as centuries' worth of bodies were exhumed to make room for more burials.

These displaced bodies found a final resting place below the streets of Paris in The Catacombs where they remain today. This underground cemetery has been open to the public since 1874, and it is quite a popular tourist attraction. We stood in line for 2 hours to get inside, but it was worth the wait.

There are numerous monuments and memorials along the 2 kilometer walk underground.

Signs are located along the way to identify from which cemeteries the remains came.

One of the guides shined his light over the top of the stacks to show us that the remains are packed in to a depth of about 6 meters.

So there you have it - a walk through the remains of over 6 million people! This is definitely a different kind of attraction to visit, but one that I would recommend if you're in Paris (without small children who might get scared).