les Catacombes

UN VOYAGE HORS DU TEMPS

Véritable labyrinthe au cœur du Paris souterrain, les Catacombes ont été aménagées dans les galeries d’anciennes carrières dont les pierres servirent à la construction de la capitale.

À 20 mètres sous terre, l’ossuaire rassemble les restes d’environ six millions de Parisiens, transférés entre la fin du XVIIIe siècle et le milieu du XIXe siècle, au fur et à mesure de la fermeture des cimetières pour raison d’insalubrité – le premier fut le cimetière des Innocents dans l’actuel quartier des Halles en 1785.

Le long d’un enchevêtrement de galeries obscures et de couloirs étroits, le visiteur découvre une mise en scène de la mort avec les ossements disposés en un décor romantico-macabre. « Arrête, c’est ici l’empire de la mort » : placé à l’entrée de l’ossuaire, cet alexandrin ouvre une longue série de sentences, poèmes et autres textes profanes ou religieux, qui ajoutent une dimension méditative au parcours.
Ce site original restitue de manière émouvante l’histoire des Parisiens et invite à un voyage hors du temps.


UN SITE UNIQUE DANS D’ANCIENNES GALERIES DE CARRIÈRE

Dans les Catacombes se croisent l’histoire de Paris et l’évolution géologique de la Terre.

45 millions d’années avant notre ère, l’emplacement de Paris et de ses environs était occupé par une mer tropicale. Sur le fond marin se sont accumulés des dizaines de mètres de sédiments qui deviendront des calcaires au cours du temps, visibles aujourd’hui dans les Catacombes. Ils caractérisent pour les géologues du monde entier, une période de temps de l’histoire de la Terre, appelé « Lutétien », de « Lutetia » nom gallo-romain de Paris.

Dès le Ier siècle ap. J.-C., les Gallo-romains ont utilisé ce calcaire pour construire Lutèce. À partir du XIIIe siècle, les carrières ouvertes sur les coteaux de la Bièvre sont devenues souterraines afin de fournir la grande quantité de pierre nécessaire à la construction de la cathédrale Notre-Dame, du Louvre et des remparts de la ville. Les piliers de soutènement, cloches de fontis, le « bain de pied des carriers » ou encore la galerie de sculptures de Port-Mahon, situés dans le parcours de visite des Catacombes, témoignent de l’exploitation du site au cours des siècles. Ces carrières ont laissé des vides où fut aménagé l’ossuaire au XVIIIe siècle, devenant les Catacombes de Paris.


QUELQUES MORTS CÉLÈBRES

Parmi les ossements provenant de plusieurs cimetières et églises de Paris, sont sans doute conservés les restes de nombreuses personnalités des siècles passés, entre autres les écrivains François Rabelais (entre 1483 et 1494 – 1553), Jean de la Fontaine (1621 - 1698) et Charles Perrault (1628 - 1703), le sculpteur François Girardon (1628 – 1715), le peintre Simon Vouet (1590 – 1649), les architectes Salomon de Brosse (1571 – 1626), Claude Perrault (1613 – 1688) ou encore Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646 – 1708).

Au moment de la Révolution, certains morts furent inhumés directement aux Catacombes : les corps des gardes suisses tués lors de la prise des Tuileries le 10 août 1792, de même que les victimes des massacres de septembre 1792.
Enfin, les restes de guillotinés furent transférés depuis leurs premières fosses d’inhumation : Lavoisier (1743 – 1794), Madame Elisabeth (1764 – 1794), Camille et Lucile Desmoulins (1760 – 1794 et 1771 – 1794), Danton (1759 – 1794), Robespierre (1758 – 1794)…

LES CATACOMBES EN QUELQUE DATES

4 avril 1777 : création par Louis XVI de l’Inspection générale des Carrières, chargée de la protection des carrières parisiennes.

7 avril 1786 : bénédiction et consécration des anciennes carrières de la Tombe-Issoire, qui deviennent l’ossuaire appelé « Catacombes ». 2 années furent nécessaires pour y transférer la totalité des ossements du cimetière des Innocents, le plus important de Paris.

1787-1814 : Transferts des ossements issus d’autres cimetières paroissiaux parisiens aux Catacombes.

1810-1814 : Héricart de Thury, inspecteur général des carrières, aménage le lieu pour la visite au public.

1859 : Derniers dépôts d’ossements à l’occasion des travaux urbanistiques d’Haussmann.

1897 : Nuit du 2 avril, fête macabre célébrée aux Catacombes par des savants, artistes et bourgeois.

1983 : Reprise en gestion des Catacombes par la Direction des Affaires culturelles de la Ville de Paris, après l’Inspection générale des Carrières.

2002 : juillet, rattachement officiel des Catacombes au musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris.

2008 : Réouverture des Catacombes après 3 mois de travaux, notamment dans la galerie de Port-Mahon fermée depuis 1995.

CHIFFRES CLÉS

20 mètres : profondeur des Catacombes, équivalent à un immeuble de 5 étages

213 : nombre de marches pour accéder au site (130 à l’entrée + 83 à la sortie)

2 kilomètres : longueur du parcours de visite

45 minutes : temps moyen de la visite

14° : Température constante des Catacombes

11 000 m2 : superficie de l’ossuaire

800 mètres : longueur des galeries de l’ossuaire.

6 à 7 millions : nombre d’ossements déposés dans les Catacombes.

Crédits photographiques: Entrée de l'ossuaire © DAC - Philippe Ladet
Tombeau dit "de Gilbert" © DAC - Christophe Fouin
Port Mahon © DAC - Christophe Fouin
Plaque gravée © DAC - Christophe Fouin
Escalier d'accès entre le premier et le deuxième niveau © Alain Lahut

The secret garden

When the owners of this Cotswolds house bought it, it was a bland Twenties reconstruction of a seventeenth-century house that had burnt down. They and their architect set about rebuilding it, reconnecting it with its gardens and wider surroundings. The results are a topiary dream world of hidden nooks and ravishing views

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Visiting for the first time, you might be forgiven for thinking that this house had stood, hidden away and presiding quietly over its surrounding yew hedges and lawns, for several centuries. You would be wrong; the house and its gardens, in their present form, are only 20 years old, the result of imagination, dedication and attention to detail on the part of the owners, in conjunction with architect Robert Hardwick.

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

A seventeenth-century house had stood on the site, but it burnt down in 1920, and was replaced three years later by a bland substitute, half the size of the original and with little detailing. This was the house the current owners bought; with little to recommend the building, it was the glorious, far-reaching views of valleys, deciduous woodlands and wild-flower meadows, and the lack of light pollution at night that appealed. That, and its non-listed status - a rare advantage, especially with a house of this size.

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Robert Hardwick, an expert in the Cotswolds vernacular, had designed their previous home and so again the owners sought his advice. A larger and lighter house was required; in short, the building was not merely to be extended, but the whole style was to change.

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Robert began by adding two wings with bay windows at either side of the original three-gabled building. After some discussion, it became clear that the favoured styles were somewhere between Strawberry Hill gothic and traditional Cotswolds vernacular. 'We eventually plumped for the latter,' says the husband, 'especially since, although we had assumed that the new wings would mirror each other, Robert pointed out that one of the joys of the Cotswolds vernacular was that the design of each could be subtly different, a look we much preferred since it gives the appearance of natural growth and development.'

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

As the house took shape, it became apparent to the owners that the garden was in the wrong place. 'There had been a perfectly nice garden before, with the land just sloping away from the house,' says the husband, 'but now it was much larger, the house needed something to sit on.' This had not been in the original plans and presented a daunting task.

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

A series of terraces was created, dropping down to a croquet lawn and from there to the fields below. An army of JCBs descended and the whole place was flattened; then topsoil was brought in and, for five months, everything was left bare. 'This was something we had to do, but it was a pretty grim period,' recalls the husband. 'It rained non-stop, so the whole building was surrounded by mud.'

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

In planning the garden, they decided that the stunning view should be hidden, as they reasoned that if they emphasised the view, no one would look at the garden. A number of yew hedges were planted, creating a series of 'rooms' running along the terrace, from which you emerge out on to the lawn. An oak window has been set in one of the hedges, through which you can see the landscape beyond, or alternatively, can look in at the house and gardens, the two now so completely in harmony with their surroundings that they could indeed have been there for centuries.

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

Simon Brown

ideas for entertaining outdoors

 1.

Create Crate Shelves

Wooden crates make fantastic shelves when turned on their side and fixed to the wall. The rustic finish fits with the outdoor setting and whether you use them practically for storing tools or as a place to put glasses or crockery when having a party, they're guaranteed to look great. 

2.Take Movie Night Outdoors

A projector is a great investment for any film-loving family. Warm evening? String a sheet up between two trees and watch a movie while snuggling up under some blankets with a bag of microwave popcorn.

3.Pot Plant It

Flowerbeds can be high maintenance so a great solution for an urban garden is to opt for potted plants. The more the merrier, as en masse they have real impact. It's all about the containers so go for pretty ceramic pots or get creative with milk pails or vintage buckets.

4.firefly glass lanterns

YOU WILL NEED

• Muslin
• Fabric scissors
• Old glass jars
• White fabric (optional)

• Double-sided tape
• Battery-operated tea lights, one for each lantern

1. For each lantern, cut a square of muslin big enough to cover the lid and overhang the jar. Place the muslin over the top of the lid and anchor it to the top of the lid by fixing it with a piece of double-sided tape.
2. Place the battery-operated tea light into the jar, screw on the lid so the cloth hangs down and covers the jar.

3. To make the hanging loop, cut or tear a strip of muslin measuring approximately 30 x 2cm. Loop it around the neck of the jar and secure with a slip knot. Now take the long loose end over to the opposite side of the neck of the jar so that a long loop is formed over the lid. Push the end under the fabric tied around the jar and secure with a looped slip knot. You can easily undo and redo the hanging loop when you take off the lid to turn the light on or off.

 

5.Accessorise Outdoors

This gardener's corner makes a feature of garden tools and adds some simple accessories. The result is a stylish nook, which is the perfect place to relax after a day of getting your hands dirty.

 

6.Your Living Room Outdoors

On a sunny day, take your living room outdoors, whether it's the entire sofa or a few cushions and throws. A voile canopy and a few lanterns strung from a tree will make it so much more than an impromptu picnic.

7.Your Colour Scheme

Cushions are a real luxury for outside seating and also allow you to bring a little more colour outdoors. Co-ordinate with flowers or plants (a yellow cushion would have looked great next to the lemon tree) or go for natural tones mixed with a few fun neons.

 

8.Go For Greenery

Lacklustre patio? Even the most industrial looking space can be transformed with some fake grass and stylishly arranged pot-plants, just look at The Balcony Gardener's recent pop-up shop for inspiration.

9.The scene

The US-based styling this relaxed scheme. They used reclaimed wooden planks to create a low picnic table, placed stylish and disposable bamboo plates in two neat rows and hung a garland of festoon lights to pull the look together. An informal selection of rugs and cushions on the ground gives a bohemian and picnic-like atmosphere.
 

10. Hang ten

Clustered tepees are a fun addition to an outdoor party with a festival feel. Furnish the interior with comfortable cushions and rugs, string coloured jars with candles from the trees and add a brazier for warmth.

 

11. In the Shade

Awnings can be as simple or as extravagant as you wish, and they will always have a use at a garden party, come rain or shine. Interior designer Nina Campbell says, 'My electric awning in my little garden at home creates an exterior room, extending the drawing room for those times when I over-invite. It is perfect for where space is limited, such as in London.' 
Vicky Charles, the design director of Soho House, suggests, 'Use fabrics such as canvas, hessian or sailcloth; they look great suspended on ropes or stretched across poles or trees.' In the garden of Soho Beach House Miami (pictured), as featured in Eat, Drink, Nap (Random House, £30), beautiful shadows are reflected onto sailcloth from the trees above, creating a natural-born party decoration with minimal fuss that's perfect for a daytime party.

 

11. Going green

Try treating draping foliage like theatre curtains, tying it back with string. Properly installed outdoor lighting creates atmosphere, as well as providing illumination above a table. 

 

12.Having a ball

'Floral balls are a real crowd-pleaser,