The Paris Catacombs are where some 6 million Parisians are buried. The Catacombs were at the southern outskirts of Paris at the time. Originally the underground world was a quarry where rock for buildings in Paris and other Roman cities was cut.
The bodies were moved to the the quarry between 1786 to 1788, after the living conditions around the cemetery of the Innocents (close to Saint-Eustace, in the district of “Les Halles”) became unbearable. They told us milk and cheese would go sour in 1 day. Yuck! And wine would spoil in a couple of days after uncorking. Oh My…Not the wine.
The bodies were originally just dumped into the quarries, and it was not until the 1800’s when the infatuation with the macabre became common, that the bones were organized in their current arrangement.
This was also a place where the “well off” would come for parties during that time.
