A few days ago we reported that you can visit the legendary Winchester Mystery House without leaving the comfort of your couch. Today, we’re here to tell you about another iconic location you can visit via virtual tour while in isolation or quarantine, The Catacombs of Paris.
In the 1700s, major health problems began to surface in Paris due to the city’s numerous, over-flowing cemeteries with Saints-Innocents cemetery being the largest. The city’s solution, to move the dead to an underground area known at the time as the Tombe-Issoire quarries.
Over six million bodies were put into a one-mile section of the 200 miles long maze of tunnels that lays below the streets of Paris. Stacked from wall to ceiling in patterns and made into art, the bones of the dead are laid bare for all to see. The sign that greets you the catacombs reads ‘Stop. This is the empire of death.’
Some visit the site out of morbid curiosity, some visit out of respect, and a few make the trip because they believe the dead speak (in their own way). Either way, it is a landmark to respect, to honor, and to witness. Luckily, even if you can’t make the trip to Paris, you can still explore the site from home. You can schedule a tour or take the virtual tour and find the listing of events by visiting the official website.
The site has been the basis of rumored paranormal activity and is the setting for several films including writer-director John Erick Dowdle’s As Above So Below. It follows a group of explorers who venture into the catacombs only to discover the dark secret hidden below the street above.
