Paris Cellars
From the Roman time to the Middle Ages, the
exploitation of careers to open sky had been
enough to provide materials necessary to the
construction of the city. Paris was then of size
modest and even if there were already rather
important buildings, the requirement out of stones
did not justify more important exploitations (There
was also the fact that the stones of Roman
constructions had also been re-used).
Officially these galleries are not accessible for the
common people, only the official Catacombs are
worth visiting but it represents only one negligible
part of the Parisian network.
This places would deserve to be emphasized,
preserved only for its historical value. Certain
galleries are centenaries, one can still see there
diagrams traced on the walls by the carriers. The
oldest galleries are wonders of architecture.
Without forgetting that this place was the theatre of
historical events: Resistance used it to avoid the
patrols Nazis during the war, they had there even a
Headquarters under the Denfert-Rochereau Place
from which colonel Rol-Tanguy and the state major
of the FFI coordinated the release of Paris in
August 1944. The Nazis and Luftwaffe had there a
bunker under the Montaigne College and the
Faculty of Pharmacy, without forgetting the
smugglers who made use of it like deposits and
way to make pass their cargoes under the barrier of
granting.
From the Roman time to the Middle Ages, the
exploitation of careers to open sky had been
enough to provide materials necessary to the
construction of the city. Paris was then of size
modest and even if there were already rather
important buildings, the requirement out of stones
did not justify more important exploitations (There
was also the fact that the stones of Roman
constructions had also been re-used).
Officially these galleries are not accessible for the
common people, only the official Catacombs are
worth visiting but it represents only one negligible
part of the Parisian network.
This places would deserve to be emphasized,
preserved only for its historical value. Certain
galleries are centenaries, one can still see there
diagrams traced on the walls by the carriers. The
oldest galleries are wonders of architecture.
Without forgetting that this place was the theatre of
historical events: Resistance used it to avoid the
patrols Nazis during the war, they had there even a
Headquarters under the Denfert-Rochereau Place
from which colonel Rol-Tanguy and the state major
of the FFI coordinated the release of Paris in
August 1944. The Nazis and Luftwaffe had there a
bunker under the Montaigne College and the
Faculty of Pharmacy, without forgetting the
smugglers who made use of it like deposits and
way to make pass their cargoes under the barrier of
granting.
The other great place, the only one which tourists
can, officially, see are the famous Catacombs.
Most of Paris' larger churches once had their own
cemeteries, but city growth and generations of
dead began to overwhelm them. From the late
seventeenth century, Paris' largest Les Innocents
cemetery (near the Les Halles district in the middle
of the city) was saturated to a point where its
neighbours were suffering from disease, due to
contamination caused by improper burials, open
mass graves, and earth charged with decomposing
organic matter.
After almost a century of ineffective decrees
condemning the cemetery, it was finally decided to
create three new large-scale suburban cemeteries
and to condemn all existing within the city limits;
the remains of all condemned cemeteries would be
moved discreetly to a renovated section of Paris'
abandoned quarries.
can, officially, see are the famous Catacombs.
Most of Paris' larger churches once had their own
cemeteries, but city growth and generations of
dead began to overwhelm them. From the late
seventeenth century, Paris' largest Les Innocents
cemetery (near the Les Halles district in the middle
of the city) was saturated to a point where its
neighbours were suffering from disease, due to
contamination caused by improper burials, open
mass graves, and earth charged with decomposing
organic matter.
After almost a century of ineffective decrees
condemning the cemetery, it was finally decided to
create three new large-scale suburban cemeteries
and to condemn all existing within the city limits;
the remains of all condemned cemeteries would be
moved discreetly to a renovated section of Paris'
abandoned quarries.
Please, don't take any of these photos and text without my permission.
