Did you know Facts about Catacombs?Catacombs are human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice.Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire.The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris’ ancient stone mines.Lets check out the 10 interesting Facts about Catacombs.
Facts about Catacombs 1:Paris’ Cemeteries
Cemeteries whose remains were moved to the Catacombs include Saints-Innocents (the largest by far with about 2 million buried over 600 years of operation), Saint-Étienne-des-Grèss (one of the oldest), Madeleine Cemetery, Errancis Cemetery (used for the victims of the French Revolution), and Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux.
Facts about Catacombs 2:Philibert Aspairt
Tombe philibert aspairt
Philibert Aspairt was a doorkeeper of the Val-de-Grâce hospital during the French Revolution. He died in the underground Catacombs of Paris in November of 1793 after entering them via a staircase located in the hospital courtyard
Facts about Catacombs 3:Secret Movie Theater
During 2004, police discovered a fully equipped movie theater in one of the caverns. It was equipped with a giant cinema screen, seats for the audience, projection equipment, film reels of recent thrillers and film noir classics, a fully stocked bar, and a complete restaurant with tables and chairs.
Facts about Catacombs 4:Visits
he Catacombs of Paris became a curiosity for more privileged Parisians from their creation, an early visitor being the Count of Artois (later Charles X of France) during 1787. Public visits began after its renovation into a proper ossuary and the 1814 – 1815 war. First allowed only a few times a year with the permission of an authorized mines inspector,
Facts about Catacombs 5:The Ossuary
The municipal ossuary in the Paris Catacombs is one of the world’s largest and one of only a handful located underground. Before being opened to the public in 1809, it underwent an extensive decorative rearrangement under the auspices of Inspector Héricart de Thury, who transformed the site using a museographical and monumental approach
Facts about Catacombs 6:Architecture
Paris Catacombs
he architect based his design on the propylaea of Ancient Greece, which were monumental gateways or vestibules placed at the entrance to a sanctuary. This impressive urban landmark recalled the power of the State to everyone who crossed the barrier and paid the entrance fee.
Facts about Catacombs 7: Les Innocents
Central Paris’ first christian burial ground dates from the early fourth century, and lay just to the north of the Rive Droite Parisian population that had moved to the Rive Droite after the fall of the Roman empire.
Facts about Catacombs 8: Jean-Paul Marat
He was a journalist and politician during the French Revolution.He was a vigorous defender of the sans-culottes and seen as a radical voice. He published his views in pamphlets, placards and newspaper
Facts about Catacombs 9: Maximilien de Robespierre
He was a French lawyer and politician, as well as one of the best known and most influential figures associated with the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club, Robespierre was an outspoken advocate for the citizen without a voice,
Facts about Catacombs 10: Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror is the label given by most historians to a period during the French Revolution after the First French Republic was established.Several historians consider the “reign of terror” to have begun in 1793, placing the starting date at either 5 September, June or March (birth of the Revolutionary Tribunal), while some consider it to have begun in September 1792
That is all the 10 interesting Facts about Catacombs.
