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| Underground Paris, Antiquity Find, by DG Hudson |
Underground Paris = Crypt Archeologique
When the Romans came, the Parisii lived here. In this museum, you'll see the successive buildings erected on this site since Ancient Times.
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| Crypte Archeologique, Notre Dame Square by DG Hudson |
During the Gallo-Roman Period, Paris was known as Lutetia, which developed from the first and second centuries BC. The Crypte Archeologique contains the remains of Lutetia, including its third century BC walls, its streets and heating systems and even the ruins of a cathedral. Some of the remains are medieval, dating to the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.
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| Roman Archeological find, by DG Hudson |
The Archeological Crypt of the Parvis of Notre-Dame is a museum of the City of Paris, situated just below the front of the Notre Dame Cathedral, in the 4th district, on the Ile de la Cite'.
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| Crypte Archeologique, Roman Ruins, by Green Eye |
During the late 18th century, the decision was made to create three new large-scale suburban burial grounds on the outskirts of the city, and condemn all existing parish cemeteries within city limits. They were actually created in the early 19th century, outside the central area of the capital.
These new cemeteries were: Montmartre Cemetery in the north, Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east, Passy Cemetery in the west. Later, Montparnasse Cemetery was added in the south.
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Underground Paris = The Catacombs
Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la Mort
Halt! This is the Empire of Death'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris Catacombs of Paris and Photo
After descending a narrow spiral stone stairwell of 19 metres to the darkness and silence broken only by the gurgling of a hidden aqueduct channelling local springs away from the area, and after passing through a long and twisting hallway of mortared stone, visitors find themselvesbefore a stone portal, in the ossuary.
The government had been searching for and consolidating long abandoned stone quarries in and around the capital since 1777, with the Police Lieutenant General overseeing the renovations. From the eve of a consecration ceremony on the 7th April the same year, behind a procession of chanting priests, began a parade of black-covered bone-laden horse-drawn wagons that continued for years to come. The exhumation and transfer of all Paris' dead to the underground sepulture began in 1786, taking until 1788 to complete.
The official name for the catacombs is l'Ossuaire Municipal. Although this cemetery covers only a small section of underground tunnels comprising "les carrières de Paris" ("the quarries of Paris"), Parisians today often refer to the entire tunnel network as "the catacombs".
Opened in the late 18th century, the underground cemetery became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1874.
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Have you seen either the Crypte Archeologique or the Catacombs? I didn't see the Catacombs, so let me know if you have. Please share in the comments what you think about going Underground (as in ruins, caverns. . ).
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References:
http://en.parisinfo.com/museum-monuments/299/crypte-archeologique-du-parvis-notre-dame Additional info re-Crypt
http://www.historvius.com/crypte-archeologique-paris-703/ Crypt Archeologique
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paris/hist/nd-crypt.html Additional info re-Crypt
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