CATACOMBS and QUARRIES
OF PARIS

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uptdated on 09/25/2000
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INTRODUCTION

The underground maze that is the Paris Catacombs consists of more than 300km (186 miles) of tunnels, under the city of Paris, distributed between several networks.  The wide-area network extends under the 14th, 15th, 5th, and 6th districts (more than 100km [62 miles]). The 12th district counts for about 30 km (18.6miles) of tunnels. Today these two networks are still the only accessible ones, but there are still tunnels under the 12th and 14th districts as well.  Except for the “Offical Catacombs” (Ossuary of Denfert-Rochereau) the old catacombs of Paris have long been forbidden to the public (see legislation section).

These catacombs were abandoned for long periods of time and were the place of several key events in France’s history:

Used by smugglers, the Resistance, the Germans during the occupation of Paris in World War 2, and were used as both wine cellars and to deposit human bones during the 1700’s (see bones section).

Today there is currently an unpublicized war between the IGC (General Inspection of the Catacombs) and the “Cataphiles” (those fighting to preserve the illegal access to the tunnels).  Many entry ways to the catacombs existed in the past (cellars, basements of building, sewers), but they are quite rare today.  A brigade of special catacombs police were even created to patrol the tunnels and keep trespassers out. The Cataphiles organize groups and events to explore the network, chart the various tunnels for maps, and preserve the catacombs that are being soiled by refuse.  What will be the fate of the catacombs be in the Third Millennium?