The+Catacombs+of+Paris

=The Catacombs of Paris=

History
Most people enjoy horror in a cinematic representation. These films include murderers, vampires, and blood - some contemporary films even use these elements of horror to mock what others love to watch. True horror isn’t found in film. It’s found in the world - terrorism, lies, and inexplicably creepy graveyards. The most creepy graveyard known to man resides in Paris, France: the Catacombs of Paris. These tombs feature the bones of thousands of people. Why does this exist? What drove the human race to bury their dead underground in such an odd way? The answer is simple: rain, and lack of space.

In the mid 1700s, it became clear to Louis XVI (the current monarch of France- known for his role in the French revolution) by the constant complaining of his subjects from the Les Halles district of Paris that there was a huge problem with the cemeteries: there was simply no more room for more dead. The cemetery was so full that they started using bones to support some of the buildings as part of the wall, and on May 30, 1780, an extensive amount of rain flooded the Les Innocents cemetery, causing one of the bone-walls to collapse and overflow into the Les Halles marketplace. This incident was the tipping point, and Louis XVI soon hired Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, a brilliant engineer, to undertake the job of renovating unused and practically abandoned limestone quarries for a new underground cemetery that would free up space above ground, as well as reinforce the ground underneath the city to prevent a collapse of all of the buildings. From 1787-1814, police forces and others in need of work renovated the underground tunnels and transferred bones from cemeteries inside the city, including Les Innocents. Most to all of the bones were transferred over by 1810, so in 1810 an inspector of quarries worked for four years to make the place accessible and fit for the public.

What's Going on Now
The catacombs have had recent renovations since the start of the project in 1780, including in 2008, which took three months to renovate after being closed since 1995. In 2002, despite being creepy and morbid, the catacombs became a part of the Carnavalet - History of Paris Museum. Today, the catacombs span at least 11,000 square meters (roughly 36,089 feet, or 6.8 miles), and tours through the 14°C (46°F) tombs last about 45 minutes. Although there are tours of the unsettling place, not all of the catacombs are shown in the tours- local daredevils sometimes descend into the unauthorized depths of the tombs to do drugs, have parties, or just to explore and find true horror waiting around any unexplored corner of the Catacombs of Paris.