Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Beneath the streets of Paris, there is a huge underground labyrinth with dark galleries and narrow passages. It’s a gruesome place of great historical value. The Paris catacombs contain skeletal remains of some 6 to 7 million former Parisians. The bones were deliberately arranged in a macabre display of high Romantic taste.
Graveyards were closed and bones were moved during the night
Situated south of the former gate "Barrière d'Enfer" beneath Rue de la Tombe-Issoire, the ossuary was founded when city officials faced serious problems.
In 1774, a series of cave-ins started, and cemeteries were flooded. Something had to be done and it was decided to move the corpses. The graveyards were closed because of the risk they posed to public health. The first of these was the Saint Innocents graveyard in 1786 in what is now the district of Les Halle.
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