Avenue René Coty Workshop Port-Mahon corridor Quarrymen’s footbath Entrance to the ossuary Fontaine de la Samaritaine Sacellum Crypt Sepulchral Lamp “Gilbert’s Tomb” Fighting at the Réveillon factory (plaque) Françoise Géllain’s tombstone Crypt of the Passion Bones Avenue René Coty Rue Rémy Dumoncel Rue Dareau Ossuary exit Quarries Ossuary Educational corridor The “Fontaine de la Samaritaine” The so-called Fontaine de la Samaritaine (Samaritan woman’s fountain) is a spring surrounded by a small circular space, the walls of which are made of bones from the Cimetière des Innocents. The Sacellum Crypt: altar and large cross The corridor broadens, revealing an altar modelled on an ancient tomb and a chapel known as the “Sacellum Crypt”. A plaque on the left marks the spot where the first bones from the Cimetière des Innocents were placed in April 1786. Entrance to the ossuary The space located before the entrance to the ossuary is used for themed exhibitions. The ossuary door is framed by two stone pillars decorated with white geometric figures on black backgrounds. The lintel bears the alexandrine “Arrête, c’est ici l’empire de la mort” (Stop! This is the empire of death!) in black letters. Further along, other maxims and reflections on the fragility of human life may be found. The visitor is now surrounded by the remains of some six millions Parisians, stacked in the 780 metres of corridors running under the quadrilateral formed by avenue René Coty, rue Hallé, rue Dareau and rue d’Alembert. The first bones were brought in 1786, and simply thrown in the corridors. It was only in around 1810, under the Empire, that General Inspector of Quarries Héricart de Thury (1776-1854) had the Catacombs arranged in an orderly fashion, forming a decorative façade with the skulls and long bones, behind which the remaining bones were piled in a heap. The Port-Mahon corridor The sculptures in the Port-Mahon corridor, which are a highlight of the visit, were created by a quarryman named Décure, who had fought in the armies of Louis XV. In the walls of the quarry, Décure sculpted the fortress of Port-Mahon, the largest town on the island of Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands, where he is believed to have been held prisoner by the English. The Quarrymen’s footbath The so-called “Quarrymen’s footbath” (bain de pieds des carriers) is a body of crystal-clear groundwater uncovered by the quarry workers. The water was subsequently used by workers mixing cement required during works in the Catacombs. Avenue René Coty Access is via a stairway leading to the Catacombs, 20 meters below ground. Visitors begin by walking through long narrow corridors leading to the space beneath avenue René Coty (formerly avenue Montsouris), where inscriptions on the walls provide the names of the streets above and details of works conducted in the corridors (e.g. reinforcement, in the 18 th century, of the Arcueil aqueduct, which was built between 1613 and 1623 at the behest of Marie de Médicis). The Workshop The “Workshop” is a disused quarry featuring stacked pillars (made of several pieces of stone) and pillars hewn in situ – two techniques used for supporting the quarry ceilings during Lutetian * limestone quarrying. * Refers to the so-called “Lutetia” (the Gallo-Roman name for Paris) geological level, which is 45 millions years old. The Catacombs and their history The Catacombs were created at the end of the 18 th century to serve as an ossuary. In 1780, Paris’s largest cemetery, the Cimetière des Saints-Innocents, located in the Les Halles district, was closed for public-health reasons at the request of local residents. On 9 November 1785, the Council of State issued a decree requiring the removal of the human remains. The task of choosing and preparing the storage site fell to the quarries department, which had been set up by the Royal Council on 4 April 1777 for the purpose of protecting and reinforcing Paris’s quarries and preventing subsidence. It was decided that bones from all of the city’s cemeteries would be stored in disused limestone quarries in the Tombe-Issoire district. This continued until 1860, notably during the extensive urban development carried out by Haussmann. At the beginning of the 19 th century, the Catacombs opened to the public, attracting large numbers of visitors, including such prestigious figures as Francis I of Austria, who visited them in 1814, and Napoleon III, who visited in 1860 with his son, the Prince Imperial. 1 3 5 6 7 2 4 The “Workshop” Overview of Port-Mahon Entrance to the ossuary The large cross in the Sacellum Crypt Fontaine de la Samaritaine The Quarrymen’s footbath Bones brought from the Cimetière des Innocents in April 1786 © Musée Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet Visitors in the corridors of the Ossuary 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 OSSUARY EdUCATiOnAL CORRidOR QUARRiES 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 EnTRAnCE ExiT Overview Quarries Quarries Ossuary Ossuary