Under Paris
UNDER PARIS
Paris Catacombs
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Where the Catacombs Are
Canals and Reservoirs, crypts and bank vaults, wine cellars, and night clubs Quarries were made up of old limestone and gypsum It is cool and dark in this tomb. Water droplets gleam on the ceiling, and the air smells of mold and damp earth Nearly 100 ft. underground with many stories
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Before becoming Illegal
Caverns and tunnels mined for the limestone and gypsum to build with Farmers raised mushrooms in them During WWII, French fighters hid in quarries and the Germans build bunkers in them
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Since becoming Illegal
Became Illegal in 1955 Cataphiles tend to be younger Scene blossomed in 1970s and 1980s A lot easier to get to back then through school basements then crawl through tunnels filled with bones
Cataphiles had special places only they knew about in the catacombs threw parties, stages performance, created art, and took drugs
In the 80s the city and private owners shut down most entrances
Elite police units patrol the tunnels
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Catacombs
Six million Parisians, 3x the population of the city above Skeletons exhumed from overcrowded cemeteries
Recent: from French Revolution Older: from Merovingian Era, 1200 years ago
From Skeletons archaeologists can tell diseases, accidents, the food they ate, surgical practices, and many other stories just from their bones
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Inspectors
Modern Paris sits atop limestone and gypsum tunnels Quarries used to lay beyond city limits until the city grew When a quarry was exhausted they stuffed it with rubble or abandoned it After all of the holes, major collapses began swallowing houses and people
King Louis XVI commissioned an architect to explore, map out, and stabilize the quarries When King Louis decided to empty packed cemeteries he told the architect, Charles Axel Guillaumot, to put the bones somewhere so
Paris Catacombs
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Where the Catacombs Are
Canals and Reservoirs, crypts and bank vaults, wine cellars, and night clubs Quarries were made up of old limestone and gypsum It is cool and dark in this tomb. Water droplets gleam on the ceiling, and the air smells of mold and damp earth Nearly 100 ft. underground with many stories
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Before becoming Illegal
Caverns and tunnels mined for the limestone and gypsum to build with Farmers raised mushrooms in them During WWII, French fighters hid in quarries and the Germans build bunkers in them
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Since becoming Illegal
Became Illegal in 1955 Cataphiles tend to be younger Scene blossomed in 1970s and 1980s A lot easier to get to back then through school basements then crawl through tunnels filled with bones
Cataphiles had special places only they knew about in the catacombs threw parties, stages performance, created art, and took drugs
In the 80s the city and private owners shut down most entrances
Elite police units patrol the tunnels
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Catacombs
Six million Parisians, 3x the population of the city above Skeletons exhumed from overcrowded cemeteries
Recent: from French Revolution Older: from Merovingian Era, 1200 years ago
From Skeletons archaeologists can tell diseases, accidents, the food they ate, surgical practices, and many other stories just from their bones
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Inspectors
Modern Paris sits atop limestone and gypsum tunnels Quarries used to lay beyond city limits until the city grew When a quarry was exhausted they stuffed it with rubble or abandoned it After all of the holes, major collapses began swallowing houses and people
King Louis XVI commissioned an architect to explore, map out, and stabilize the quarries When King Louis decided to empty packed cemeteries he told the architect, Charles Axel Guillaumot, to put the bones somewhere so
Cited: "Cataphiles." Cataphiles. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2012. . "Catacombs of Paris." - The Blog Below: A Blog about Everything Underground. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2012. . Shea, Neil. "Paris Catacombs." - National Geographic Magazine. N.p., Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Dec. 2012. . Thursday, January 3, 2013