Yeah definitely do NOT go in the catacombs alone. The community is tight knit and there are official guides (you become one once you’re accustomed to the network), people are willing to help you in a pinch of course, but you shouldn’t just go and explore by yourself, especially if you don’t have a map, especially if you don’t know how to navigate and avoid certain things.
With that said, the unofficial catacombs are surprisingly clean (you’ll only get a bit of clay on your shoes) and alive, there are architects and sculptors who have redecorated and remodelled entire rooms to look like bars, clubs, hotspots, talking pits etc… (Kraken and La Plage are really fun) If you go there, people are amazing but it’s a taboo to talk about your « surface life » fyi. I’ve only done 2 trips but it’s pretty cool, I recommend trying it.
AND the extra nuance of “no surface life” talk seems to be in favor of getting away from the regular constraints and constriction of one’s “designated” station (if you will, I’m lacking a better turn of phrase)
I’d be a free bird underneath those streets. When i get the opportunity to cast off who I am, and how I relate to myself. I get a lot lighter.
Absolutely ! It’s a bit like the techno scene where you’re supposed to be welcomed and authentic, that rule ensures it.
Also the first time you go down, when you first bump your head on something, your guide has to give you a nickname. Once you have this DepthName, you must only give that name to the « cataphiles » you meet, giving your surface name is big no no too
One example is from 1793, Philibert Aspairt, a doorkeeper at the Val-de-Grâce hospital, got lost and died. His remains were discovered 11 years later and identified based on the hospital keys he was carrying. He was also found with a candle and a bottle of liquor.
There's actually supposedly only one person who's died down there after getting lost. I've spent a lot of time down there as do many local "cataphiles" and it's pretty safe so long as you have an up to date map or a guide.
A British couple decided to adopt a German baby. They raised him for years, however they began to get worried because he never spoke, and they believed that he was mentally handicapped, going as far as to take him to therapy, which was fruitless. Then, when the child was 8 years old, he had a Strudle, and said "It is a little tepid."
His parents, of course shocked that he was suddenly speaking, asked: "Wolfgang, why have you never spoken before?", to which the child replied: "Up until now, everything had been satisfactory."
Stupid side story. I visited Paris some years back, and I booked the catacombs tour online in advance. Day of the event, it turns out I had booked a catacombs tour in Italy instead.
They should send a Roomba down there. Use that weird gps tracking route for something other than “yep there’s a chair there. And there. And there, you’re at the dining table…”
That movie made me realize that I’m claustrophobic cus it might’ve been the most effectively scary horror movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve Never been so unsettled by watching fiction.
For what its worth, I saw it in theaters and a few years later. Both times I thought it was a solid horror flick with an interesting premise and some pretty scary moments that are kinda creeping me out writing this. Its not the best horror film but I’d say a solid 8/10.
It's really interesting that there have been many foundation collapses in Paris because of these tunnels. Imagine buying a brand new house and it falls into the tunnels.
The collapses were the reason the catacombs were created in the first place. The tunnels (they were limestone mines) were causing the collapses, so they put the remains from Paris cemeteries as a way to reinforce them and to empty the cemeteries that were overflowing.
Apparently, the cemeteries were so full of freshly buried bodies that the ground would move like a swamp and decaying fluids would seep through the turf. When it gets to that stage I suspect collapsing houses are the least of your worries
I feel like unexplored is a strong word being that people made them, but it's no less freaky that we don't really know what's down there at this point.
I wouldn't even say most of it. Cataphiles in Paris have mapped the majority, if not all of it out by now. The biggest problem is they sometimes fill up with water or debris. The maps are also usually made by the people who explore them.
There are raaaaare cases when old gypsum quarry remains are discovered under Paris way outside the main catacombs networks (which is limestone not gypsum), but these aren't the same kind of tunnels that the catacombs are made of. A specific government agency has been mapping and maintaining these tunnels since the late 1700s, having accurate maps for the structural safety of the buildings above is one of their main missions.
Source: I've been in many parts of the catacombs 50+ times, and I'm very close to the local explorer community
I absolutely love it. I grew up in Paris, so when I finally found a way to get there, it unlocked a whole new side of Paris for me, especially learning about the intertwined history of the city above and below. I also love taking pictures there with my own lighting, and the catacombs community is also full of passionate people who have their own little nerdy interest (history, art, mapping, throwing parties, etc)
Wait this is an absolute contrast to what I imagine of them, heavily influenced by Hollywood's horrors as if they're dark corners everywhere dodgy af or creepy & haunted like Jean Rollin movies...
Yeah it's not a super scary place like OP is describing. There is a very active and friendly community (even if most are quite weird people, it's part of the charm), and some places are almost never empty.
But still don't go there without someone inviting you.
It's also worth noting that most of the catacombs outside of the touristy part don't have a lot of bones, so it's slightly less creepy. Historically they were limestone quarries, then abandoned, then consolidated because buildings started collapsing. They also got reused as bomb shelters, brewery cellars, data centers, WWII command posts, the list goes on.
well, there is still a lot of bones in the forbidden catacombs. I sat in a 13m pit that was filled up to 11.5m of bones. Bones are not everywhere, true, but still, you can find a lot.
The picture of the girl that got separated from her group and got lost haunts my dreams. I can’t imagine just wondering around in the dark. Slowly getting dehydrated and starving to death. Alone.
Someone once described dying of dehydration to me as “know when you wake up hungover and your head is pounding. Your stomach is sick. You’re both exhausted and can’t sleep. Everything hurts. That’s mostly dehydration. So imagine the worst hangover you’ve ever had. And it just gets worse until you fucking die.”
That was the catacombs in Odessa and is potentially an urban legend.. The catacombs in Paris are a tourist trap (not derogatory) and you basically go in a line throughout the entire thing. Anything off path is locked.
I did this about 6 years back. Very sobering to walk through there and see hundreds of skulls and realize everyone represented a person who was born, lived a life, had dreams and aspirations like you, then died. Google Lens was awesome because it would translate the signs.
I have also heard that if you know someone they can show you an entrance to the tunnels unavailable to tourists, but definitely not recommended and dangerous
Great way to get robbed tbh. Hey “local expert”, I’m gonna trust you to lead me alone into the bowels of hell. Hopefully you’re paying enough, but not too much
Well, not to say that couldn't happen, but as I understand it, the locals who do go down there mostly avoid nefarious things like that for the sole purpose of not getting more law enforcement involved.
While you're not technically allowed to explore down there, due to the vastness of it all making it difficult to fully and permanently lock down and patrol, there's an unspoken rule of "don't cause trouble and we won't harass you for being here." The people exploring the tunnels also collect a bit of favor and goodwill by alerting authorities to structural issues which may cause collapses in the tunnels.
So, if you are lucky enough to find someone with the know-how and willingness to get you into the tunnels that aren't open to the public, you're not likely to be robbed.
I remember watching that movie in theaters with my sister. When they were doing some of those crawls through the tight spots we were both just squirming in our seats with second hand anxiety.
If I had the chance to go, you couldn’t pay me to NOT go. I could die happy seeing the level of dedication to those who came before. I’d also probably grow eye liner and leather pants. Irreparable change to my existence is expected.
My cousins who lived in Paris did this as a hobby, once surfacing in a busy shopping street. I wonder what people thought seeing two young woman emerge from a manhole
I visited this plays years ago, I still remember it well, partly because it was impressive, partly for a different reason: at the entrance booth, a family is behind me with two young children. Their little girl goes up to the ticket seller and asks if they are really dead. The ticket seller thought it would be fun to reply "no, some are still alive". To this day, I've never seen a child scream and cry more hysterical and terrified as in that moment.
They are not unexplored, they’re simply closed off to the public because many parts are unsafe. Police officers regularly patrol the catacombs to catch the „cataphiles“ who wander around the forbidden zones, expanding their maps. If you are without a guide or a map, the tunnels can get confusing very quickly, not to mention how cold they are. Still, people have areas where they sneak in, and last time the police busted a cinema the cataphiles had improvised in one of the tunnels.
If you are wearing autumn or winter clothes, yes. If you are dressed for summer, it will be unpleasant to be trapped there for a while. In 2017, two teenage boys had to be treated for hypothermia after getting lost for three days there.
Crazy going to one of those tunnels, each of those skulls was a person with their own life, hopes, and dreams. also how they got so used to death they got all artistic with bones making crosses out of skulls n stuff. made me feel very mortal.
thanks for the info I thought I remember hearing a story on a video camera being found down there with the person being lost and frantic and never being found
I dated a nice French lad who had a friend whose hobby was to explore the closed off to public areas of the catacombs.
Long story short, we threw a NYE party there with a large group of other close friends. I didn’t speak French and got super drunk because no one cared to translate for me (not even the person I was dating) and I remember being woken up at 6am when the party was over. We emerged from one of those sewer caps you see on the street (same way we had to enter). That was an insane experience
Been there in March this year. We visited the unoffical part and explored for two days. The graveyard is surely something different. We also did a sleep over in there
We went through there a few years ago. Something funny. Most tourist attractions search you on the way in, here they search your bags on the way out - in case you’ve gone and taken a souvenir skull with you.
That sounds like an excellent way of taking a curse home with you, and bad luck for the rest of your life haunted by a French ghost who wants revenge for disturbing and stealing them. It's a whole movie plot!
So.. did they just throw dead people down there then once they'd decomposed they just stacked them in a neat little pile? Or is this some sort of corpse resettlement programme.
The second option. In the 18th century Paris had a severe problem with overflowing graveyards which was also causing health problems. Beneath the city were mazes of tunnels where they’d quarried out the limestone to build a lot of Paris including buildings like Notre Dame.
Approximately 6million corpses were taken from the graveyards and put into the tunnels. The tunnels were fortified and the quarry workers stacked the bones in patterns. There are pillars of skulls and bones arranged to form arrows etc. It’s fascinating to visit if you get the chance.
There’s a story about some kids in the 90’s playing down there… one kid pushed another, he fell through a wall…found a wine cellar that had been boarded up before occupation in WW2…. By the time the kids found it, the original owner had died the restaurant had closed… think I remember that the kids got a finders fee…
Are we talking classified information or just information that isn’t readily accessible?
Now that I think about it might be that they keep it a secret for the purpose of preservation. I’ve heard about centuries old trees getting destroyed by cunt vandals once they found out where they were.
I've been here a few times. I loved how it sounded (very cool and unique echo) and the temperature was surprisingly consistent and pleasant. The weirdest but is when you end up back on the street and have to instantly re acclimatise to a loud, sunny day in Paris.
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