It was a huge job but, nonetheless, workers took time to carve scenes out of the rock. This one was made in honor of one of the workers that was killed when part of the tunnel collapsed. It's a depiction of part of his hometown. Paris sits on a huge rock quarry which was excavated in order to provide material to build Notre Dame and other buildings and to sell. Eventually a third of Paris sat upon tunnels which occasionally collapsed, swallowing homes and streets. A huge project was undertaken to bolster and strengthen the tunnels and, when completed, it was said that the map of the tunnels was more exact than the map of the city above. As Paris grew, the city began to run out of places to bury the dead. Cemeteries began to overflow, literally, causing a health problem and complaints from the locals. In the late 1780s, they began to move bodies, via black-shrouded cart, accompanied by priests and incense, in the middle of the night, from the cemeteries to their new resting place in the catacombs. The remains of six million people were relocated and neatly, even artistically, stacked in the tunnels. Only a portion of the catacombs are open to the public now. As I recall, it was about a mile from point to point. The demeanor of visitors, when we were there, was respectful, although there were security persons searching visitors, at the exit, and they'd already confiscated several skulls and miscellaneous bones, which were sitting on a table nearby.
It was a huge job but, nonetheless, workers took time to carve scenes out of the rock. This one was made in honor of one of the workers that was killed when part of the tunnel collapsed. It's a depiction of part of his hometown. Paris sits on a huge rock quarry which was excavated in order to provide material to build Notre Dame and other buildings and to sell. Eventually a third of Paris sat upon tunnels which occasionally collapsed, swallowing homes and streets. A huge project was undertaken to bolster and strengthen the tunnels and, when completed, it was said that the map of the tunnels was more exact than the map of the city above. As Paris grew, the city began to run out of places to bury the dead. Cemeteries began to overflow, literally, causing a health problem and complaints from the locals. In the late 1780s, they began to move bodies, via black-shrouded cart, accompanied by priests and incense, in the middle of the night, from the cemeteries to their new resting place in the catacombs. The remains of six million people were relocated and neatly, even artistically, stacked in the tunnels. Only a portion of the catacombs are open to the public now. As I recall, it was about a mile from point to point. The demeanor of visitors, when we were there, was respectful, although there were security persons searching visitors, at the exit, and they'd already confiscated several skulls and miscellaneous bones, which were sitting on a table nearby.
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