Exploring the Catacombs - A Guided Tour of Paris's City of the Dead
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Leave a comment and tell me about your experiences and thoughts about the Catacombs. You know I want to know! Make sure you subscribe to my channel and click the bell 🔔 notification so you always find out about new videos right away.
In this video, Jessica the Museum Guide (that’s me!) takes you on a tour of the infamous Parisian Catacombs. We’ll explore the history of these ancient mines and how they became an ossuary, visit the most famous places within the Catacombs, and talk about cataphiles, illegal exploration, and creepy concerts.
Heading to Paris? I recommend you book this VIP Access Catacombs tour so you can see all of the hidden things that aren’t open to independent visitors. www.getyourguide.com/paris-l1...
As always, thanks for watching. Be sure to leave your comments and questions below. If you enjoyed this virtual tour, then please consider leaving me a tip at paypal.me/jessicatourguide or buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/JessicaG... .
0:00 - Introduction to the tour
1:55 - The ancient history of the mines
4:41 - The markings on the walls and the Catacombs Workshop
5:30 - Entering the Empire of Death and the Sepulchral Lamp
6:18 - The relocation of the skeletons
8:56 - The Port Mahon rock carvings and the Fountain of the Samaritan Woman
10:15 - Monuments to the French Revolution
11:24 - Moliere and La Fontaine
13:10 - The gravestone of Françoise Gillain
14:05 - A concert at the Tibia Rotunda
15:02 - The “Cataphiles” and illegal exploration
16:03 - Discovering an illegal cinema in the Catacombs
17:34 - AirBnb offers a night in the Catacombs?
First, we descend 131 steps down into the ancient mine complex 20 metres (65 feet) beneath the streets. We traverse the corridors and caves while examining evidence of the miners, including signs and the old workshop.
Next, we visit some of the Catacombs' most iconic sites, including the Port Mahon carvings, the Sepulchral Lamp, and the Fountain de la Samaritaine. We examine the monuments to the French Revolution, and discuss the relocation of Moliere and La Fontaine to Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
After visiting Françoise Gillain's gravestone, we travel back in time to an 1897 concert at the Tibia Rotunda, followed by a discussion of the ever creepy 'cataphiles,' people who illegally explore the off-limits areas. Finally, we talk about the police finding an illegal cinema and restaurants in the Catacombs, and discuss the ethics of Air BnB offering a night inside as a contest prize.
Remember - if you’re planning a trip to London, you can book a tour with me. Email me at jessica@themuseumguide.com.
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When I visited I was fascinated by the work, the passion put into caring for all the bones. About half way through, as I paused to look at one of the sculptures, admiring one particular skull I was struck by the idea that this was once a person. They had a name, a family, a home somewhere not far. That these were all people. That spooked me a bit. But it made the history of Paris more personal, more real. Thank you! Wonderful video.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
You're very welcome! And I know exactly what you mean about the sudden realisation. It boggles the mind.
OMMMMMGGGGG I wanna go on an unsanctioned tour!!!!! That would be so amazing! I love history, I love things macabre! As I pass my 55th year I see my demise as being ever closer. We are here for such a short time and we toil away just trying to survive... It is so sobering. I find it interesting that these bones are respected, but the dead of Waterloo, (1815), were simply ground up to make bread after they had been in the ground long enough to have become skeletonized. Great video!!! Hello from Oklahoma, where there is no history.... sad face
@TheMuseumGuide
5 ай бұрын
You have history in Oklahoma! But a lot of First Nations didn’t leave built history. That said, I understand the North American craving for old cities! Thanks for watching.
Your video is SO MUCH BETTER than the History Channel's documentary on this place.
@TheMuseumGuide
2 ай бұрын
Thank you!!!
@davidjohnrivingtonmcdonough
13 күн бұрын
I hope so! The Channel you refer to is in the main false Info, take care.
Thank you for the lovely stroll in the catacombs. I think the Paris ones are the best examples extant. I would not be disturbed o have my bones displayed, or even used creatively (once I’m done using them). My ideal choice would be human composting, so my body and bones could become life giving to other things. I think the catacombs are strangely beautiful and inspirational. Most of us today have not lived with this kind of magnitude of death, but it could so easily happen again that we should learn from our ancestors.🖤🇨🇦
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
I agree - they are strangely beautiful! Thank you for watching.
This has to be my most favourite KZread channel of 2022!!! I absolutely love anything strange, macabre and weird
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Thank you David! I hope to be your favourite in 2023 as well. ;)
@RebeccaMcCall-fl1kn
26 күн бұрын
@@TheMuseumGuide Still my favorite in 2024 🫶🏻 look forward to your videos
So glad that you included As Above So Below! Definitly not one of the most top rated horror flicks, but I loved it.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Totally agree!
As for the question if I would want that... All I say is Hallstatt in Austria a small mountain village where the cemetery is so small that after 25 yrs your time is up you will be dug up and placed in a small charnel house with an elaborately painted skull.... The skull bears your name dob and dod.... Granted not so much done any more but in the past common knowledge and I think it is awesome
You earned a new subscriber! Id love to see more videos about the catacombs. I can't get enough of them.
@TheMuseumGuide
10 ай бұрын
Awesome, thank you! I do also talk about them briefly in my video about strange museums in Paris. :) Top Ten Strangest Museums in Paris - A Guided Museum Tour kzread.info/dash/bejne/pYyJy61vm6W0gM4.html
Another wonderful stroll. So informative even though I have been there twice! An underground city of the dead that reminds us all that life is fleeting. It is truly a fascinating place that can also flood if the Seine rises. Thank you so much. Your videos are always interesting!
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Please share them with anyone who might enjoy them. :)
Another great video! I wish u and urs a wonderful Christmas, greetings from Amsterdam! 🎄🎄🎄
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! You too!
This was a very welcome video! Thank you!
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
"Adventure seekers, the curious and the morbid"- AKA- good peeps. When I'm dead, I'm happy for my bones to be used for anything that serves some purpose and improves the lives of those still living. I personally like the idea of being part of some weird subterranean memento mori more than I like the idea of being ground up for fertiliser, but so long as what's left of me proves useful, that's the important thing. The idea of my lifeless husk being pointlessly maintained for decades in some hermetically sealed but ultimately useless 'eternal sleep' fantasy casket, beneath a manicured golf course cemetery dotted with identikit headstones nobody visits, is far more depressing to me than my last remnant being an anonymous skull gawped at by the occasional tourist.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
I completely agree! I personally want a natural burial, but I would love a headstone in a unique and storied cemetery, like Highgate.
Interesting video! Happy holidays!🎉🎉
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Happy holidays! Thank you for watching!
Great video! Thanks!
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
You're welcome!
Thank you for an interesting and informative video. Have a good weekend.
@TheMuseumGuide
10 ай бұрын
Thanks, you too!
Great video!! Feliz Navidad!
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Merry Christmas!
This is awesome. I will definitely check it out when I visit Paris. Could you do more tours on more modern/contemporary art museums?
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Definitely!! I have a tour of the Pompidou written and filmed. :)
I have always wanted to see this part of Paris, but due to circumstances I don’t think I will ever make it. So thanks for this interesting video
@TheMuseumGuide
2 ай бұрын
You’re welcome 😊
Great video. The catacombs are really interesting. It's a deeply moving experience b/c you think about all these people. Who were they? What was their lives like? What time period did they live in? Were they happy? Where were they born b/c out 6mils people surely, not all of them were born in Paris. I would not like to be buried in a catacomb. I want to be buried in my family's cemetery. No, AirB&B should not have done the contest. It was disrespectful.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
I agree - I am so surprised that Air Bnb was allowed to do this. Thank you for watching!
Fascinating.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! This is one of my favourite places in Paris.
@michaelwhite8031
Жыл бұрын
I can see why. Great video.
That was cool
@TheMuseumGuide
3 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
The best Christmas gift! 😍
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
Happy holidays! I’m blushing 😊
I would like to visit the Catacombs but this was a pretty good second, thank you! Claustrophobia and distance (I'm in Australia) prevents a visit in person. When I die why should I care what happens to the corporeal? I am not religious, so no I wouldn't mind my skeleton placed in something like this, or even ground up for fertiliser. so many skeletons, so many 'once' people, the size of the Paris catacomb is mind boggling.
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
It's unbelievable! It's under so much of the city.
6m where have we heard that before, this is what they tell us, I think in this case it's a lot more, take care!
@TheMuseumGuide
13 күн бұрын
It really isn’t! Look into the history. :)
I think we need a sort of revival of this kind of resting site. Land is at a premium and new cemeteries will be harder and harder to justify in built-up cities. Cremation reduces the amount of space taken up, but requires a pretty high amount of energy and releases pollution. Eco-burials and human composting still remain pretty limited and unfortunately controversial. But making a home, or empire, for the dead that is respectful, artistic and a solemn reminder that in death we are pretty equal is a decent solution. Especially since there are underground spaces unused in the forms of old mines, caves or defunct sewer systems.
@TheMuseumGuide
3 ай бұрын
I think it’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think it would fly!
So interesting! I have friends who have visited, but all they could say was "Wow" too. Would I mind if my skeleton were on display like that? Not in the least!
@TheMuseumGuide
Жыл бұрын
I agree! Thank you for watching.
I want to go so badly.
@TheMuseumGuide
Ай бұрын
It’s seriously cool
@Angelicwings1
Ай бұрын
@@TheMuseumGuide just seeing the videos I am in awe.
Airbnb stepped over the line with this one. Corporations always do
@TheMuseumGuide
7 ай бұрын
The Catacombs have been used for many commercial purposes- but this one was a bit wild! Thanks for watching.
I think a musical soundtrack of Boney M , would be suitable for this video….💀☠️
@TheMuseumGuide
6 ай бұрын
Or Bone Thugs N Harmony. 🤣
I would absolutely love to have my skeletal remains on display for tourists to see. I don't see anything weird or disrespectful about it at all, but, I am not religious either, and that may have something to do with it. But then again, I am admittedly one of those individuals who loves the bizarre and macabre, and to be really honest, I have already died once in my current life, so I am already well aware of what happens when we die, and where we go. I am positive many people will find that last sentence rather disingenuous, but I assure you it is only the truth. I tend to be rather blatant and overly honest, and that can be both good and bad. I should probably just shut up and stop leaving weird comments that might possibly freak others out, eh? Lol, but I can't help myself! I get so excited over History, and this kind of History is my absolute favourite, as I have probably said in other comments many times over. I, for one, just love your channel, and look very forward to more. Thank you so much for sharing with us all, Jessica. You are a fabulous tour guide.
I find the idea of Airbnb advertising a night in the catacombs to be somewhat tacky and in bad taste.
@TheMuseumGuide
6 ай бұрын
I’m inclined to agree, but the Catacombs did agree to it!
Airbnb shameful
@TheMuseumGuide
6 ай бұрын
Let’s not forget the Catacombs agreed to it!