Exploring the Catacombs - A Guided Tour of Paris's City of the Dead

[@lornfant]

When I visited I was fascinated by the work, the passion put into caring for all the bones. About half way through, as I paused to look at one of the sculptures, admiring one particular skull I was struck by the idea that this was once a person. They had a name, a family, a home somewhere not far. That these were all people. That spooked me a bit. But it made the history of Paris more personal, more real. Thank you! Wonderful video.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You're very welcome! And I know exactly what you mean about the sudden realisation. It boggles the mind.

[@GypsyWolfGina]

Your video is SO MUCH BETTER than the History Channel's documentary on this place.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you!!!

[@davidjohnrivingtonmcdonough]

I hope so! The Channel you refer to is in the main false Info, take care.

[@chrisball3778]

"Adventure seekers, the curious and the morbid"- AKA- good peeps. When I'm dead, I'm happy for my bones to be used for anything that serves some purpose and improves the lives of those still living. I personally like the idea of being part of some weird subterranean memento mori more than I like the idea of being ground up for fertiliser, but so long as what's left of me proves useful, that's the important thing. The idea of my lifeless husk being pointlessly maintained for decades in some hermetically sealed but ultimately useless 'eternal sleep' fantasy casket, beneath a manicured golf course cemetery dotted with identikit headstones nobody visits, is far more depressing to me than my last remnant being an anonymous skull gawped at by the occasional tourist.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I completely agree! I personally want a natural burial, but I would love a headstone in a unique and storied cemetery, like Highgate.

[@leslietarkin]

Great video. The catacombs are really interesting. It's a deeply moving experience b/c you think about all these people. Who were they? What was their lives like? What time period did they live in? Were they happy? Where were they born b/c out 6mils people surely, not all of them were born in Paris. I would not like to be buried in a catacomb. I want to be buried in my family's cemetery. No, AirB&B should not have done the contest. It was disrespectful.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I agree - I am so surprised that Air Bnb was allowed to do this. Thank you for watching!

[@Put-pangea-back-together]

Thanks!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you so much!

[@texelz]

This has to be my most favourite KZbin channel of 2022!!! I absolutely love anything strange, macabre and weird

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you David! I hope to be your favourite in 2023 as well. ;)

[@RebeccaMcCall-fl1kn]

@@TheMuseumGuide Still my favorite in 2024 🫶🏻 look forward to your videos

[@Put-pangea-back-together]

Your videos are always fantastic

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you so much!

[@stardustsparkles22]

You earned a new subscriber! Id love to see more videos about the catacombs. I can't get enough of them.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Awesome, thank you! I do also talk about them briefly in my video about strange museums in Paris. :) Top Ten Strangest Museums in Paris - A Guided Museum Tour kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYm4mn5soKeBhs0

[@clark5242]

OMMMMMGGGGG I wanna go on an unsanctioned tour!!!!! That would be so amazing! I love history, I love things macabre! As I pass my 55th year I see my demise as being ever closer. We are here for such a short time and we toil away just trying to survive... It is so sobering. I find it interesting that these bones are respected, but the dead of Waterloo, (1815), were simply ground up to make bread after they had been in the ground long enough to have become skeletonized. Great video!!! Hello from Oklahoma, where there is no history.... sad face

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You have history in Oklahoma! But a lot of First Nations didn’t leave built history. That said, I understand the North American craving for old cities! Thanks for watching.

[@tamarrajames3590]

Thank you for the lovely stroll in the catacombs. I think the Paris ones are the best examples extant. I would not be disturbed o have my bones displayed, or even used creatively (once I’m done using them). My ideal choice would be human composting, so my body and bones could become life giving to other things. I think the catacombs are strangely beautiful and inspirational. Most of us today have not lived with this kind of magnitude of death, but it could so easily happen again that we should learn from our ancestors.🖤🇨🇦

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I agree - they are strangely beautiful! Thank you for watching.

[@annettewillis2797]

Another wonderful stroll. So informative even though I have been there twice! An underground city of the dead that reminds us all that life is fleeting. It is truly a fascinating place that can also flood if the Seine rises. Thank you so much. Your videos are always interesting!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! Please share them with anyone who might enjoy them. :)

[@QuinnMallory-od1hw]

Thanks for the video, I'd never be able to get there, also way too creepy for me. It's a very sad and sombre notion that so many people are forgotten to time in such a place. But since crematoriums, I don't think there will be any new arrivals. Maybe that's for the best.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

To be fair, they’re visited more than most! You’re very welcome.

[@jenniferd6242]

So glad that you included As Above So Below! Definitly not one of the most top rated horror flicks, but I loved it.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Totally agree!

[@martijnkeisers5900]

Another great video! I wish u and urs a wonderful Christmas, greetings from Amsterdam! 🎄🎄🎄

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! You too!

[@leonorarobins3426]

Interesting video! Happy holidays!🎉🎉

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Happy holidays! Thank you for watching!

[@esthersantiago7152]

Great video!! Feliz Navidad!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! Merry Christmas!

[@stardustsparkles22]

Thank you for an interesting and informative video. Have a good weekend.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thanks, you too!

[@daveandgena3166]

This was a very welcome video! Thank you!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Maria_Barcelos]

The best Christmas gift! 😍

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Happy holidays! I’m blushing 😊

[@tiffanyannhowe1712]

Great video! Thanks!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You're welcome!

[@arikathehuman2025]

This is awesome. I will definitely check it out when I visit Paris. Could you do more tours on more modern/contemporary art museums?

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Definitely!! I have a tour of the Pompidou written and filmed. :)

[@ethreagan]

Maybe a stupid question, but where do they get the bones to make repairs? are there just so many bones to begin with? or do they use "newer" bones?

[@TheMuseumGuide]

That’s such a good question!

[@mistermornevanderberg]

I have always wanted to see this part of Paris, but due to circumstances I don’t think I will ever make it. So thanks for this interesting video

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re welcome 😊

[@VampMedusa]

I can only hope to see this place before my end And there is ALWAYS hope 🤘🏻

[@michaelwhite8031]

Fascinating.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! This is one of my favourite places in Paris.

[@michaelwhite8031]

I can see why. Great video.

[@marie-sophieemilypatricawa1830]

As for the question if I would want that... All I say is Hallstatt in Austria a small mountain village where the cemetery is so small that after 25 yrs your time is up you will be dug up and placed in a small charnel house with an elaborately painted skull.... The skull bears your name dob and dod.... Granted not so much done any more but in the past common knowledge and I think it is awesome

[@lmp8932]

I would like to visit the Catacombs but this was a pretty good second, thank you! Claustrophobia and distance (I'm in Australia) prevents a visit in person. When I die why should I care what happens to the corporeal? I am not religious, so no I wouldn't mind my skeleton placed in something like this, or even ground up for fertiliser. so many skeletons, so many 'once' people, the size of the Paris catacomb is mind boggling.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It's unbelievable! It's under so much of the city.

[@Gunnercv]

Nice

[@richardsingh5827]

Good work

[@ashleywagner227]

As Above So Below is the only horror movie I’ve ever watched that made me actually so sick to my stomach that I had to pause it and lay down. I love that movie but it was rough to watch.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Have you watched The Descent?

[@ashleywagner227]

@@TheMuseumGuide I have! It’s been a while but I still remember the pool and the crawlers. That movie was wild. I haven’t seen the second one, though. Those movies have convinced me not to go exploring in caves 😂 Did you ever see The Boy? It gave me a fear of large porcelain dolls lol

[@davidjohnrivingtonmcdonough]

6m where have we heard that before, this is what they tell us, I think in this case it's a lot more, take care!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It really isn’t! Look into the history. :)

[@sonofgod496]

That was cool

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@brikwil]

So interesting! I have friends who have visited, but all they could say was "Wow" too. Would I mind if my skeleton were on display like that? Not in the least!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I agree! Thank you for watching.

[@Zzsmuf]

Merci

[@TheMuseumGuide]

De rien!

[@cortrichards8179]

I would absolutely love to have my skeletal remains on display for tourists to see. I don't see anything weird or disrespectful about it at all, but, I am not religious either, and that may have something to do with it. But then again, I am admittedly one of those individuals who loves the bizarre and macabre, and to be really honest, I have already died once in my current life, so I am already well aware of what happens when we die, and where we go. I am positive many people will find that last sentence rather disingenuous, but I assure you it is only the truth. I tend to be rather blatant and overly honest, and that can be both good and bad. I should probably just shut up and stop leaving weird comments that might possibly freak others out, eh? Lol, but I can't help myself! I get so excited over History, and this kind of History is my absolute favourite, as I have probably said in other comments many times over. I, for one, just love your channel, and look very forward to more. Thank you so much for sharing with us all, Jessica. You are a fabulous tour guide.

[@yeshualionofjudah7107]

Where you scared

[@darrielwilliams2628]

I don't think air bnb was wrong.... so it's ok to take tours and gawk in fascination at the deceased but how dare you want to sleep amongst them 😂

[@Angelicwings1]

I want to go so badly.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It’s seriously cool

[@Angelicwings1]

@@TheMuseumGuide just seeing the videos I am in awe.

[@tishamorgan8388]

I find the idea of Airbnb advertising a night in the catacombs to be somewhat tacky and in bad taste.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’m inclined to agree, but the Catacombs did agree to it!

[@lordmak]

I could believe the story but why all over the world are human remains treated like ornaments? This makes no sense. Stack the remains yes but turn them into art! Seriously. Human farming comes to mind and like sheep we are just food

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You should have a Google at the book Heavenly Bodies!

[@CarniFitMe]

Airbnb shameful

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Let’s not forget the Catacombs agreed to it!

[@johnransom1146]

Airbnb stepped over the line with this one. Corporations always do

[@TheMuseumGuide]

The Catacombs have been used for many commercial purposes- but this one was a bit wild! Thanks for watching.

[@1960dave1960]

I think a musical soundtrack of Boney M , would be suitable for this video….💀☠️

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Or Bone Thugs N Harmony. 🤣

[@lady_acid]

I think we need a sort of revival of this kind of resting site. Land is at a premium and new cemeteries will be harder and harder to justify in built-up cities. Cremation reduces the amount of space taken up, but requires a pretty high amount of energy and releases pollution. Eco-burials and human composting still remain pretty limited and unfortunately controversial. But making a home, or empire, for the dead that is respectful, artistic and a solemn reminder that in death we are pretty equal is a decent solution. Especially since there are underground spaces unused in the forms of old mines, caves or defunct sewer systems.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I think it’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think it would fly!