The mysterious catacombs of Paris

(im not sure if this is in the right place, feel free to move it)

"Avez-vous vu un fant�me?" I asked the man at the ticket counter in my best French if he has seen a ghost. "Je ne sais pas," was his reply. The man smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Last week, I spent three days in Paris, France and had the chance to visit the Catacombs. I knew there were human bones stacked in the tunnels under the city, but I wasn't prepared for just how many. I was ready to hear more accounts of the moving shadows and ghostly voices that have been reported in those bowels of Paris throughout the centuries, but I wasn't ready for how the experience would make me feel.

The Catacombs of Paris are a network of tunnels and caves that run for more than 300 kilometers under the city. To build a city, you need materials. The Romans were the first to quarry the limestone in the area in 60 B.C.E.; however, those quarries were the open-air kind -- the Romans just dug out the rock that was exposed. As the city grew and covered the landscape, tunneling would be required to get more building materials. In 1180 C.E., Philippe-Auguste became King. He was a major proponent of tunneling to quarry in order to build ramparts to protect the city, and it was under his rule that this tunnel network would truly be born.

www.ghostvillage.com...

You will no doubt see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre-Dame on your next visit to Paris. How about something different for your travel itinerary? Take a journey under the City of Lights to the dark tunnels known as the Paris Catacombs. Indulge your morbid curiosity. It is an experience you will never forget.

The entrance is just across the street from the Denfert-Rochereau metro stop. After you purchase your ticket you will proceed through the gate and descend 286 steps of a tight spiral staircase. When you reach the bottom you will enter a portion of over two hundred miles of tunnels that run below the streets of Paris.

Five minutes of walking and you will encounter a sign indicating the beginning of what you came to see � the catacombs. Are you ready for this? Arm and leg bones are stacked neatly like four-foot high woodpiles along both sides of the dimly lit tunnel. Two rows of skulls run parallel within the stacks, one at ankle height and the other at waist height. Occasionally there is an artistic variation in the skull pattern, such as the shape of a heart. At one point the cave extends well beyond the fence-like stack of bones. A moldy green skull keeps watch over the entire space, which is filled in with bones as far as the eye can see. The tunnels and bones go on and on and on.

(edited by Byrd... please don't cut and paste someone's full webpage. Allow their work to be seen as they wrote it. Copy a few paragraphs and perhaps an image or so, and then link to their page so they get credit for their work. Thanks.)

[edit on 14-9-2004 by Byrd]

I've been there, it was kinda hard to find but once we got there it was worth the trouble. It was pretty strange walking among all those bones. But on our way out I tried to slip a femur into my backpack but my wife saw it and nixed that. So anyways...cool place worth the time to go see it.

cool, i watched a program about it and it seemed a really creepy place. I would like to visit there thou

I have pictures of myself picking the noses of skulls in the Paris catacombs (you know my sense of humor by now). They were really serious about people stealing bones as both my ex-girlfriend and I were patted down before leaving.

yeah it's a good thing she made me put it back because they searched my bag on the way out and god knows what the french would have done to me for stealing a femur.

Anyone hear about the guy who died down there a few years ago? I think he was filming a documentary, and got lost..or caved in.

Originally posted by Plato986
Anyone hear about the guy who died down there a few years ago? I think he was filming a documentary, and got lost..or caved in.

Yes i remember that, it was about the other catacombs tunnels. I think you refering to "The scariest places on earth"?

that place was without a doubt the best stop i made in paris just recently. i absolutely loved it. if i lived there, i wud definitely make that my summer job, morbidity and all. the air, it was just so clean.

Wern't they used by the monks to get from place to place in secret and the bones are of the deceased monks that are laid to rest. There is also a hotel that you can stayin the stair rails and shanderlears are made of bones n skulls it's pretty freaky.

i was down there about three weeks ago, it was hard to find and there was little to no security at all. i could have takin skulls or practiced necrophilia. but i was a bit tired lmao.

It looks fascinating, but absolutely terrifying!

I can't even watch a horror movie without the light on, so I know I'd go into some sort of delirious fit if I had to go down there!

Is it possible this place has links to any secret organisations or ritual?

Originally posted by kinslayer
yeah it's a good thing she made me put it back because they searched my bag on the way out and god knows what the french would have done to me for stealing a femur.

They probably would have talked rather boisterously and then retreated into the south then begged to surrender to you. We are talking France here right?

There are a few Czech locations made or decorated wtih human bones as well, one is the Ossuary a nifty church with thousands of human bones and skulls for decoration.

[edit on 7-9-2004 by CatHerder]

Neat place... scary... and if you look in the Secret Socities Section.

There is a group that was working down there.

www.guardian.co.uk...

the french resistance had theyre headquarters in there. apparently, when the germans routed the whole city, the 'stop. here is the empire of the dead' sign stopped em. good thing for charles de gaulle.

anyone have any pix of the heart made of skulls? mine didnt come out, and i wann send it to my ex...

There is also a town in Germany which holds a big wall completely made up of bones and skulls. Cant remeber its name its been too many years since ive been there.

Originally posted by infinite
cool, i watched a program about it and it seemed a really creepy place. I would like to visit there thou

If you want "creepy catacombs" check this thread out. It gave me the willies!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: SE7EN
Wern't they used by the monks to get from place to place in secret and the bones are of the deceased monks that are laid to rest. There is also a hotel that you can stayin the stair rails and shanderlears are made of bones n skulls it's pretty freaky.

What over 6 million monks?
To me it appears that the 'people' had been divided.

Take a look at the underground tunnels that lead to 'the cemetery' in the video above.....amazing.