F.A.Q / Legends of the catacombs
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions,
I often receive in my mailbox.
I decided to write the answers, so read this
section before sending an e-mail.
Are there (commercial) trips for tourists? Or is everything
underground shielded off?
Are there any legends that stem from the catacombes?
Are there many people who have been lost?
How much do you think has not been explored?
What happens if you are caught by the law in them?
I wanna know : why were they built ?
Have you ever visited the lower levels of the catacombs?
All about 'The man who lost himself in the catacombs' and his famous
footage!
Are there (commercial) trips for tourists?
Or is everything underground shielded off?
- There are no commercial trips for tourists in the underground
quarries of Paris.
The only thing you can legally visit are the official
catacombs of Paris. How to go there?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1, place Denfert-Rochereau , 75014 Paris
43 22 47 63
Métro Denfert-Rochereau
Open: Tuesday to Friday: 2-4 p.m. / Saturday, Sunday: 9-11 a.m. - 2-4 p.m.
Prices: 27 FF. - Red. 15 FF. - Group: 15 FF., Res. a fortnight - Guided Tours,
Conferences: Res. 2 months
Closed: Monday, bank holidays
Are there any legends that stem from the catacombes?
- Yes, I will add soon (?) a part with some legends in my website. Here are some
of them to give you the taste:
The Storeroom.
The Storeroom is an old Parisian brewery, abandoned for a long time. It is very
vast . One tells in the galleries that the owner of this Storeroom put fire by
jealousy towards his wife who had misled it. Today still, the ceilings are black of
soot to prove it. There remain almost nothing to prove the existence of this old
Storeroom.
Almost, because two bottles of glass survived plundering and breakage.
They are two bottles standard " Fischer ", of a capacity of one liter. These two
bottles are still within the Storeroom, intact.
Will you be able to find them?
The cats.
A few years ago, one found a quantity of skins of cats in a room, which is called
now the Room of the Cats.
Investigation proved that a restaurant was close to a well which communicated
between the catacombs and its cellar to throw these remainders compromising for its reputation.
Philibert Aspairt.
The catacombs without plan and especially without light can be fatal. It is what
occurred to Philibert Aspairt. Gatekeeper of 'le Val de Grâce, he had an access
to the careers, and lost himself by visiting them.
Nobody noticed his disappearance,he was found only ten years later: it remained
then of him only one skeleton and some keys which made him identifiable. Its corpse
was found near an exit (closed today) that it did not have the force to reach...
Its tomb is still at the place where its body was found, and on a plate one can
read:
" A memory of Philibert Aspairt lost in this career on November 3, 1793,
found eleven years afterwards and buried in the same place on April 30, 1804. "
(see here the photo of this grave)
Are there many people who have been lost?
No, I do not think so... Did you read the story about the man who lost himself
in the catacombs? Just above, last question...
How much do you think has not been explored?
Everything has been explored, but the most part of the quarries are closed:
because of new constructions in Paris (underground car parks...), but also because
it was dangerous, sometimes collapsing.
What happens if you are caught by the law in them? Do you get arrested?
Is it the same for a foreigner?
Actually, it depends on who you meet>
There are several security groups under Paris. Sometimes you have to pay a fee, sometimes to go to the tribunal, but nothing really embarassing. You are not arrested, except if you brake or steal things.
For a foreigner, it must not happen in the same way I think.
I wanna know : why were they built ?
The quarries of Paris were built first in order to build the city of Paris: stones
were extracted from the underground.
That is why so many old buildings in Paris (like Notre-Dame de Paris) have this
particular white color.
I heard some people call the catacombs 'the gateway to hell'.
But I was wondering have you ever visited the lower levels of the catacombs?
Your question is interesting. Actually, there are lower levels in the catacombs,
but all the galleries are not on the maps, and are often full of water or collapsed.
Gateway to hell?
Not sure, but frightening....
A recent U.S. television show on Fox Family Network depicted the catacombs
as one of the scariest places to visit. The program, however, was actually
about a career who found a video camera in the catacombs. The mystery being
who owned the video camera and why was it found so deep in the catacombs. The person
that dropped the video camera had filmed his travels in the catacombs; however,
toward the end of his filming something had frightened him and he dropped the
camera and ran off. The French career hypothesized that the man must have
got lost and is stuck somewhere down in the catacombs.
Have you heard of such an event?
I did not even heard of this footage except from american people who ask it to me
that 3 times a day. I think it is a legend to make sensationnal tv programs.
Maybe a video camera has been lost in the catacombs, but you cannot
disappear in the quarries. Everything is explored.