les catacombes · N^o4089

Once used for mining, the tunnels under Paris were later converted into burial grounds. When the cemeteries became overcrowded in the late 1700s, it was decided that all of the city’s dead would be transferred into the tunnels. The exhumation began in 1786 and was completed two years later. Today, the catacombs house the remains of more than 6 million people (almost three times the current population of Paris).

Tourists can visit the Denfert-Rochereau ossuary, but we were lucky enough to meet a local cataphile, Berenger, who took us on an illicit tour. We followed Berenger into a hole in the ground and explored the dark labyrinth for hours, wading through knee-high water, crawling on our bellies through tight passages, writing graffiti with RISK, and digging through piles of bones.

Berenger started to explore the catacombs two years ago, when he moved to Paris and met another cataphile. He descended into the catacombs several times a week, learning and discovering all 180 miles of the underground tunnels. “It became an obsession,” Berenger says. “I cannot say how many times I have gone down.”

There are many reasons Berenger is drawn to the catacombs. “I think what I like is that I am able to discover another world, which ordinary people cannot imagine,” he says. “I like to see the stones that support Paris, old tags and new, charcoal drawings that are 300 years old, and teenagers who are lost in every sense of the word. With the curiosity to crawl after paths without exits, there are many interesting things.”

Though not for the claustrophobic or the faint of heart, we highly recommend heading down there if you are in Paris. That is, if you can find a local, like Berenger, to guide you.












Photos by Stefan Kocev for Citizens of Humanity