How the Paris Catacombs Solved a Cemetery Crisis

And I can assure you that reading the story is quite far from actually living the experience of walking through these tunnels. Sometimes insane (like « get me out of there ! »), and sometimes it just make you think about your own mortality, thanks to the writings.

Disturbing, but in a constructive, human way. Well, at least for me.

And profit-making, btw.

Edit: added missing « mortality »

Medieval Christian cemeteries often overfilled, especially if the cemetery was thought especially holy. Demand was so high in some places graves were regularly reused: the bones were exhumed and stacked wherever they would fit.

For a spectacular answer to the "What do we do with all these bones?" question, check out the ossuary at Sedlec in the Czech republic:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary?wprov=sfla1

One of the "Magnificent Seven" London cemeteries had an open day recently and I went into the Catacombs and learned about the history... Popular in Europe so the shareholders of the Brompton Cemetery decided to speculate so constructed them but in the end it wasn't a money spinner and they went bust. I wouldn't actually recommend going down into the Catacombs. Coffins falling to pieces on shelves basically.