Paris, France is a beautiful city aboveground with such monuments and locations of interest as the Eiffal Tower, but some tourists who visit wish to see the city’s underworld. This is not, as it may seem a reference to a criminal organization residing within the city. There is an actual literal underworld resting beneath the busy city streets and extending far into the city like a series of catacombs.
Paris’ incredible underworld is, as many would suspect, a massive tourist draw. Though it is often talked about and even written about, there are strict laws prohibiting visitors from actually looking into most areas. The massive tunnels for the most part are completely closed off, guarded, and as many in the local governments would hope, forgotten. If anyone is found exploring the vast restricted reaches of the city’s catacombs, tunnels, and ossuaries, heavy fines are levied against them. And there is a great deal of danger in attempting to traverse the vast distances between the different entrances as well. Only the official toured tombs allow the living in.
But some say there is something else residing beneath the surface of the city, looking with envious eyes at the goings on of the surface world and condemned to a tomb beneath the Earth. Of course such stories are to be expected in the case of any massive and famous underground structure, particularly if it houses the remnants of the dead. The fascination we all have with the dead is often combined with a fascination of the unknown. And if we suspect ghosts in any given area, other forms of paranormal entity cannot be far behind.
There are, however, some areas of the catacombs of Paris that are open for tourism through official channels. Thousands pass through every year in an effort to touch the face of history, although many find that along with history they are also breathing the slowly decaying remnants of the dead as well. And while some find the experience deeply spiritual and important, still others find it disturbing.
Voices have been reported in the catacombs amongst the piles of thousands of skulls. The cemeteries that were moved to this underground ossuary were filled with the dead intending to never be disturbed again. And as they were moved due to overcrowding, some say the remains themselves became haunted. Whether this element of the story is true or not is unclear, but one thing is certain: with all the skeletons piled up underground, the living definitely are often overwhelmed by the amount of death surrounding them. Paris is two cities. One of the living, and one filled with the dead.
In these vast recesses what are the chances that the catacombs could actually be haunted? Furthermore, if ghosts do walk the Earth, what better place for them to congregate than the sacred piles of their remains buried under one of the most beautiful cities on Earth? Though guided tours often make ghost hunting difficult or even impossible to conduct, a few investigators have managed to brave the rats and the darkness and picked up some interesting evidence.
