Anthony's Photos from the Catacombs in Paris

This is a partial map of the Catacombs.

Quickly, you find yourself descending into the underworld. 

Over the centuries, artists have carved fantastic features into the limestone. This is just one example, but these carvings come before the bones.

At times, there are dramatic stone archways. Since there is always a subtle flow of air through the tunnels, these spaces almost feel open and spacious, rather than being buried alive.

Then you reach the warning. The point at which you are no longer in the domain of the living.

Halt! This is the Empire of the Dead

The tunnels here are not as grand, but every wall is covered in bones meters deep.

They're piled orderly until they run up against the unfinished limestone ceiling. 

Not all have suffered the third death.

But most have, like the fourteen people that make up this heart shaped doodle.

Or the ten people that make up the cross shaped doodle behind me.

Photo Credit: Patricia Mayer 

(Who explored the Catacombs with me, but had a better low light camera)

Okay take me back to the shownotes!