1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: Back when we were planning our trip to Paris earlier 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: this year, one of the things that we specifically asked 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: to include on the itinerary was a trip to the Catacombs. 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: Those are in the southern part of the city there 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: on the left bank of the sin and the catacombs 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: are an ossuary that contains the bones of an estimated 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: six to seven million people. They are stacked in their 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: floor to ceiling. Of course, that was an ideal topic 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: for an October episode, but that ossuary is just one 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: part of a huge network of tunnels and minds that 14 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: are under the city. Their history goes back centuries before 15 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: the bones were even part of it. And really this 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: is two interconnected stories of minds and human panes, because 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: in the eighteenth century Paris was dealing with two really 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: big problems simultaneously. It had way too many dead bodies 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: to deal with and a lot of the city was 20 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: at great risk of collapsing into those mines. I mean, 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: who hasn't had those two problems happening at the same time. 22 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: You know, when we were on our Catacombs tour, the 23 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: collapsing of the city was a hundred percent news to me, 24 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: and I was like, that is as to meet dramatic 25 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: as these bones we are surrounded by. Yeah, and the 26 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: city of Paris has a distinctive look. I love it 27 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: so deeply. Many of its historic buildings are made from limestone, 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: including famous landmarks like the Louver and Notre Dame Cathedral. 29 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: Limestone is a rock made from marine sediments, and it's 30 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: abundant in the region thanks to the warm sea that 31 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: covered the area roughly forty five million years ago, and 32 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: it gives these buildings a consistent, creamy facade, often under 33 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: a gray zinc roof. Yeah, when you look at like 34 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: wide sweeping shots of Paris in movies, if you've never 35 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: personally been there, that's what's behind that just sort of dreamy, 36 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: consistently colored look. Yeah, we should point out that that's 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: in part also because the city has had a lot 38 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: of regulation in place about what can be built and 39 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: how it can be built, and that things need to 40 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: look like they belong together, right right. This is especially 41 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: like in this the central historic part of the city. 42 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: If you get out into the suburbs, it doesn't so 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: much look like that anymore. Some of this limestone came 44 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: from other parts of France, but a lot of it 45 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: came from under the city of Paris itself. This type 46 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: of limestone is so closely associated with the city that 47 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,679 Speaker 1: it's often called Paris stone, but it's more formal name 48 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: is Lutitian limestone. Geologists in the nineteenth century named it 49 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: after Lutitia, which was the Roman name for the city 50 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: that we now know as Paris. People were corey limestone, 51 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: gypsum and other materials and what's now Paris all the 52 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: way back to antiquity. When this started around the first century, 53 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: the city was much smaller, mostly occupying the area just 54 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: to the south of the Seine and the islands in 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: the river itself. The earliest quarries were open pits to 56 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: the south of the city proper, but by the fourteenth 57 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,239 Speaker 1: century people were mining limestone underground rather than using these 58 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: open quarries, and as the mines and the city both 59 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: got bigger, they eventually overlapped. Mines were primarily dug under 60 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: what's now and fourteenth but they also extended under a 61 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: lot of other parts of the city as well. Although 62 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: abandoned galleries within the mines were supposed to be filled in, 63 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: in a lot of cases, this didn't always happen. When 64 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: it did happen, naturally, the film material that was used 65 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: was never as strong or as stable as the limestone 66 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: that had been taken out. Basically, people were digging limestone 67 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: out from under Paris, bringing it above ground, and making 68 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: buildings out of it without necessarily reinforcing or bracing the 69 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: space they left behind. This sounds sort of like the 70 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: start of a sci fi movie on how to do 71 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: it wrong. Of Unsurprisingly, this led to some problems. Yet, 72 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: even under the best possible circumstances, it would be challenging 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: to simultaneously keep up with centuries of expansion in both 74 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: the city above and the minds below. But this expansion, 75 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: like I said, it just took place over hundreds of years. 76 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: There was not a master plan for the city of 77 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: Paris that was maintained consistently for all of that time, 78 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: and then when it came to what was happening underground, 79 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: a lot of the time nobody was keeping track of 80 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: the big picture with that at all. By the seventeen hundreds, 81 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: no one really had a sense of just how much 82 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: stone had been removed from under Paris, or exactly where 83 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: the tunnels and galleries had been dug. And on top 84 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: of that, in places the mines had been dug in layers, 85 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: with one crew digging under a gallery that an earlier 86 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: crew had previously hollowed out. So in the late eighteenth century, 87 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: parts of Paris started collapsing into the mines underneath. This 88 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: crisis really peaked between seventeen seventy four and seventeen seventy eight, 89 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: and during that time as many as twenty people were killed. 90 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: That might sound like a pretty low death toll compared 91 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: to most of the disasters that we have talked about 92 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: on this show, but these collapses were so unpredictable and 93 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: frequent and dramatic that they were just terrifying. I don't 94 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: know about anybody else, but the idea that my house 95 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: might suddenly fall into a sinkhole with that warning is 96 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: way scarier to me than anything else we're talking about 97 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: in the show. Today. People even blame these collapses on 98 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: the work of the devil. That makes sense, right. The 99 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: devil is below you trying to set your house down. 100 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,799 Speaker 1: The first major collapse took place on December seventeen, seventeen 101 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: seventy four, when a stretch of Rude d'on fare the 102 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: Street of Hell, collapsed into a mine. Roughly three hundred 103 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: meters of road and adjacent buildings collapsed into a hole 104 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: that was at least twenty five meters deep. Other collapses 105 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: followed that one. On September fifteen, seventeen seventy six, King 106 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth signed a decree closing the mines and 107 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: prohibiting digging under public roads. People who owned private land 108 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: that was situated over a mine were required to have 109 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: that mine inspected and reinforced. The king also dispatched an 110 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: architect named Antoine DuPont to inspect the damage from this 111 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: collapse and to try to map the mind system, as 112 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: well as determined whether the private property owners were in 113 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: compliance with this requirement. On April fourth of the following year, 114 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth issued another decree which established a Department 115 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: of General Corey Inspection. Award winning Royal architect Charles Axel 116 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: Guillamo was appointed as its first inspector. General du Paul 117 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: stayed on as an engineer although it's clear that he 118 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: and Guillamo did not really get along terribly well. Gamo 119 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: was given the task of mapping the mines and making 120 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: them safe, and he had the skills and experienced to 121 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: do this. At the same time, though this situation was dire, 122 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: another major collapse occurred near the city center on April, 123 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: which was the day that he started work. And this 124 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: project was also massive. There were about eight hundred hectares 125 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: of mines under the city of Paris, that's about three 126 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,559 Speaker 1: square miles or eight square kilometers. Giamo needed to map 127 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: that entire system, including figuring out what public roads and 128 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: buildings were situated on the land above and marking those 129 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: landmarks with signs below. The king was not quite so 130 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: worried about what was under private land. Gmo needed to 131 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: reinforce embrace areas that were in danger of collapsing, and 132 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: he developed a code for marking support columns that would 133 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: note when the column was placed and who had done it. 134 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: You can still see lots of those down there today. 135 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: Gmo had hundreds of men working on this project, including 136 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: laborers and cartographers, but there was really no way to 137 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,679 Speaker 1: do all of this work quickly enough to immediately prevent 138 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: all future collapses. They kept happening regularly over the next 139 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: few years. In seventy eight, a collapse in the neighborhood 140 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: of Minimal killed seven people and it took weeks to 141 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: find all of their bodies. In addition to all of 142 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: this mapping and stabilization work, Guiamo also took on another task, 143 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: preparing the old minds to receive human remains, and we're 144 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: going to talk about that after we first paused for 145 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: a little sponsor break. As the city of Paris was 146 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: dealing with all these collapsing roads and buildings, it was 147 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: also dealing with another major problem, and that was an 148 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: overabundance of dead bodies. As the city was expanding over 149 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: what was essentially hollowed out limestone, it had also really outgrown. 150 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: It's a very able burial space. In the centuries before 151 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: the French Revolution, most people in Paris were buried in 152 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: cemeteries that were adjacent to their parish churches. The city 153 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: had thirty two such cemeteries, and in most cases people 154 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: were buried in mass graves rather than individual plots. It 155 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: was not unusual for these graves to be dug as 156 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: trenches and then left open until they were full. It 157 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: also was not unusual for the same piece of land 158 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: to be reused as time passed, with a new mass 159 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: grave being dug where an older group of bodies had decomposed. 160 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: As the city got bigger and more crowded, though this 161 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: method of burial became less and less workable homes and 162 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: other buildings encroached on the cemeteries. There were more bodies 163 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: packed into the mass graves more tightly, with less time 164 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: passing before the same piece of ground was needed to 165 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: bury more people. In an overcrowded graveyard, there just wasn't 166 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: enough organic material and oxygen available for micro organisms to 167 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: do the work required for decompo positions, so there were 168 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: too many bodies and it was taking longer for them 169 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: to break down. Complicating all of this was the fact 170 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 1: that some of these same churchyards were also used as 171 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: communal green space, or they were next door to those 172 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: types of spaces. So, for example, if a market was 173 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: next door to or overlapping with a graveyard, that graveyard 174 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: might be littered with blood and awful from butchered animals 175 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: or rotting produce that had not been sold, Foul air, 176 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: and the smell of decay became persistent problems on top 177 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: of the inherent grossness of that situation and the fact 178 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: that decaying bodies really can spread disease. At this point 179 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: in history, people blamed myasthmas or bad air for a 180 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: range of illnesses. There was a lot of talk about quote, 181 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: cadaverous exhalations in these graveyards and the health problems that 182 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: they were causing. By the seventeen sixties, officials in Paris 183 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: were issuing reports detailing all kinds of problems that were 184 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: associated with the cemeteries, including thick and foul smelling air 185 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: and a range of mysterious illnesses. In seventeen sixty five, 186 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: and ordinance was passed outlawing burials in church cemeteries, instead 187 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,119 Speaker 1: requiring new cemeteries to be built outside of the city itself, 188 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: But this ordinance was never enforced. People understandably were upset 189 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,199 Speaker 1: by the idea that they could not be buried in 190 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: the same place that their loved ones had been. In 191 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: some cases, families had been buried in the same church 192 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: cemetery for generations. The Catholic Church also objected to the 193 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,599 Speaker 1: plan because it meant that burials were going to become secularized. 194 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: Even though people generally objected to the idea of moving 195 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,559 Speaker 1: the cemeteries outside the city, they continued to be concerned 196 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: about their unhealthful effects in the city. It was kind 197 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: of like a weird turnabout of the not in my 198 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: backyard problem. In addition to blaming illnesses on bad cemetery air, 199 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: people claimed that it was causing milk, meat, and other 200 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: food to spoil within hours. People also reported wine turning 201 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: into vinegar almost as soon as it was open because 202 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: of all this cemetery funk. It's not clear how much 203 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: of this was real and how much was an urban legend, 204 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: but it's clear that people were really fearful about whether 205 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: these cemeteries were hurting them. In spite of that, though, 206 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: nothing really changed until seventeen eighty, and that is when 207 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: the situation at Cymothier Descent Annoscent, or the Cemetery of 208 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: Holy Innocence, became completely unmanageable. This was the largest cemetery 209 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: in Paris and also one of the oldest. Burials had 210 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,599 Speaker 1: started there in antiquity, and its use as a cemetery 211 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: was ongoing by the twelfth century. In eighty six, King 212 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: Philippe the Second August had a wall built around it 213 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: as a mark of respect for the dead, but then 214 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: also with the hope of discouraging people from using it 215 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: as a public commons and market space. At first, the 216 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: wall worked pretty well for this second purpose, but as 217 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 1: the city grew, it was treated more and more like 218 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: a common green space, and the neighboring build things got 219 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,199 Speaker 1: closer to it, some of them right up against that wall. 220 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: Although it was technically owned by the adjacent Holy Innocence Church, 221 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: this cemetery was operated more like a public cemetery. Residents 222 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: of eighteen different parishes had burial rights there. Two hospitals 223 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: and a morgue also sent their bodies to Holy Innocence. 224 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: By the eighteenth century, about ten percent of the people 225 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: who died in Paris were being buried in that one place, 226 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: and that was far more than the space could handle. 227 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty, people started reporting extremely foul odors around 228 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 1: the cemetery of the Holy Innocence, and they started filing 229 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: official complaints. Then, one night, a restaurant owner went into 230 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: his cellar for some wine and described himself as being 231 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: totally overcome by the smell. It turned out that the 232 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:51,199 Speaker 1: cemetery wall had collapsed, filling the sellers of several homes 233 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: with human remains. Newly appointed celebrity inspector Antoine Alexecade de 234 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: Vaux investigated the situation and filed a reports dating that 235 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: at least three houses had been affected by poisonous gases 236 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: seeping in from the cemetery. Residents were reporting all kinds 237 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: of health effects, including delirium, respiratory issues, and vomiting. The 238 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: inspector recommended that they not only seal off the basements 239 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: and disinfect the homes, but also that the cemetery be 240 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: closed entirely. Not long after, Louis the sixteenth government issued 241 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: an ordinance calling the Cemetery of Holy Innocence quote an 242 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: intolerable and illegal threat to the city. Burials stopped there 243 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: that year seventeen eighty, although the bodies that were already 244 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: there stayed where they were for the time being. People 245 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: just didn't know what to do with them. In two though, 246 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: someone writing under the name Villadieu published an essay proposing 247 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: that the bodies be moved down into the minds that 248 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: were under the city, which conveniently had just been undergoing 249 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: this whole mapping and reinforcement process. This is where the 250 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: mind story and the body story intersect. So before we 251 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: get to that, we will take another quick sponsor break. 252 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: About five years passed between the closing of the Cemetery 253 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: of the Holy Innocence, meaning when people stopped burying new 254 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: bodies there, and the removal of those bodies to the 255 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: minds under the city of Paris. The process started in 256 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: December of seventeen eighty five, with bodies being removed from 257 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: the cemetery at night to try to avoid upsetting people 258 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: and the Catholic Church. In April seventh, seventeen eighty six, 259 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: a portion of the mind system was consecrated as the 260 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: Paris Municipal Ossuary. At some point in this process of 261 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: body relocation, people started calling the area the Catacombs, after 262 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: the Catacombs of Rome. A lot of folks refer to 263 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: this whole system of minds as the Catacombs, even though 264 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: the Ossuary is only one small part of it. Yeah, 265 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: when we were there, it was an interesting thing and 266 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: that they talked about how huge it is. But what 267 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: you walk through is a fairly short little section of it. Um. 268 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: I think, I think there's the perception, and I know 269 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: I had it that you would just kind of be 270 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: turned loose in this huge place. That is not the case. 271 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: The process of removing the bodies from the Cemetery of 272 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: the Holy Innocence took months, and it involved the remains 273 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: of more than twenty thousand people. The cemetery had been 274 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: so overcrowded that many of the bodies had suppontified. That 275 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: means the fats in the body turned into a soapy 276 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: substance rather than decomposing. Scientists Antoine fair Quoix and Michel 277 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: studied these bodies and coined the term adapasser to describe 278 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: what they were seeing. Once the bodies were all gone 279 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: out of the Cemetery of the Holy Innocence, that Charlote 280 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: houses that were associated with the cemetery were torn down, 281 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: The ground was disinfected with lime, and concrete was poured 282 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: over the entire area. Fountain was installed in the middle 283 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: of this, and today the former Cemetery of the Holy 284 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: Innocence is a Fountain of Innocence, which is a public plaza. 285 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: Soon people living near other cemeteries started petitioning for those 286 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: bodies to be removed as well. One by one, the 287 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: cemeteries within the city were closed and emptied these remains 288 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: weren't artfully arranged the way they are in the catacombs today. 289 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: For the most part, the bodies were just put into 290 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 1: it in piles. And then in the midst of all 291 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,199 Speaker 1: this extremation and body relocating, the French Revolution started in 292 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine. Charles Axel Gillmon was briefly imprisoned during 293 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: the revolution, in part because his position had been a 294 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: royal appointments and in part because Antoine DuPont was campaigning 295 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: against him. Like we said earlier, they did not seem 296 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: to get along. I don't have all the detail about 297 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: exactly what went on there. There seems to have been 298 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,159 Speaker 1: an ongoing power struggle. Though all the church property was 299 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: nationalized in the fall of seventeen nine, including the cemeteries. 300 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: But for the most part, this long term effort of 301 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: cemetery closed rs and body removals was put on hold, 302 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: especially as the French Revolution morphed into the Reign of Terror. However, 303 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: this was also one of the few times when the 304 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: recently dead were taken to the catacombs rather than bodies 305 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: that had already been interred in a cemetery. A mass 306 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: killing of prisoners was carried out between September two and 307 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,919 Speaker 1: sixth of seventeen ninety two out of fears that they 308 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: might band together into counter revolutionary uprising. More than one 309 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 1: thousand prisoners were killed in what came to be known 310 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: as the September massacres. Although some were buried in cemeteries, 311 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: most were placed in the catacombs, and the ones that 312 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: were buried in cemeteries were moved to the catacombs when 313 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: those cemeteries were emptied. Later, Napoleon came to power in 314 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: France and seventeen ninety nine, and the cemeteries of Paris 315 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,199 Speaker 1: became part of the question of how the French in 316 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: general and Parisians specifically imagined theirselves and their new society 317 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: post revolution. There were still a lot of public health 318 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: concerns that surround unto the cemeteries that had been there 319 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: before the revolution, and then on top of that, the 320 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: violence and the recent horror of the Reign of Terror 321 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: made the subject of these overcrowded burial spaces and the 322 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: bodies in them a particularly sensitive one. People proposed sweeping 323 00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: reforms in multiple areas of society, including what the city 324 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: should look like and how bodies should be treated. After death, 325 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: people started to imagine public cemeteries as places that could 326 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: be beautiful while also inspiring a sense of morality and 327 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: community ties. So during these years a lot of things 328 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: happened that were connected to this idea of how to 329 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: make spaces for the dead, and what those spaces should 330 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 1: mean to the living, and how all of that connected 331 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: to the greater idea of French society. Before the revolution ended, 332 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: the Church of Senta Genevieve had been reimagined as the Pantheon, 333 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 1: which was to house bodies of some of France's most 334 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: notable citizens, including Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Emil Zola, Alexander dumat Pere, 335 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: and Marie Curie. There had been a few burials in 336 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: what is now Pearl Chase Cemetery before this point, but 337 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: the cemetery as it exists today was opened in eighteen 338 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: o four. It was designed by architect Alexandle Teodor Bloignan 339 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: and urban planner Nicolas Rochon. It was France's first garden cemetery, 340 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: which was a cemetery style that became popular in North 341 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: America and parts of Europe in the nineteenth century. Gardens 342 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: cemeteries were also called rural cemeteries, and they were meant 343 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: to provide a sanitary way to bury the dead, but 344 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: also to serve as a public park land and to 345 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,959 Speaker 1: reinforce romantic ideals that were connected to nature and hygiene. 346 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: The bodies of a number of notable people were moved 347 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: to pearl ches, including abal Ard and Helloy's, and today 348 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: it's one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. I 349 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: went there on our trip to Paris, and it is 350 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: beautiful and it does all the things that those types 351 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: of cemeteries were supposed to inspire, which is like walking 352 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: through nature and intemplating mortality in a peaceful, serene environment. 353 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: Other similar cemeteries followed, both in France and elsewhere underground, 354 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: though the bodies that have been placed in the catacombs 355 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,359 Speaker 1: were mostly left unattended from the start of the French 356 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:19,199 Speaker 1: Revolution through the early eighteen hundreds. By then, in spite 357 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 1: of the earlier work that Gimmo had done, the catacombs 358 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: were once again unsafe. Collapses and sinkholes continued, although on 359 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: a smaller scale than they had at the end of 360 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century. Plus part of the system was now 361 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: full of remains in various states of decay. The minds 362 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 1: stayed cool year round, but they're also very damp, so 363 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: the remains had been affected by moisture and rot. But 364 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: in March of eighteen o nine, Louis Etienne de Toi 365 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: was appointed to the Underground Department of Mines and Quarries, 366 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: and he undertook a project to turn what had basically 367 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: just been an underground body dump into a monument that 368 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: was suitable for public admission. And this is when the 369 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: bones were arranged in the way that they are today, 370 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: with the long bones and the skulls backed up floor 371 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: ceiling where you can see them, and smaller bones and 372 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: bone pieces tucked away behind. There are some spots if 373 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: you go down there, where you can get a peek 374 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,640 Speaker 1: at the smaller bones and these fragments as well. There 375 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: are placards around that note in a general way which 376 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: cemetery of the bones came from and when they were 377 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 1: placed in the catacombs. The catacombs open to the public 378 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: just four months after Richard dri took on this project. 379 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: Visitors pass under a carving that reads arette say de 380 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: la more or stop this is the Empire of death. 381 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: There are also placards carved with quotations about death, which RICALD. 382 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: DRIs decided to add in eighteen ten. Other than that 383 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: the decorations are really minimal. Little has changed about the 384 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: catacombs themselves since the early nineteenth century, and the last 385 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,959 Speaker 1: deposit of bones happened in eighteen sixty. The biggest addition 386 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: and since then is the electric lighting, which it now has. 387 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: Even though this ossuary was created because people were afraid 388 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: of the negative effects that dead bodies were having in 389 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: their neighborhoods, the catacombs with the bodies in them quickly 390 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: became a tourist attraction. Dera card Tori placed a guestbook 391 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: at the exit in between July of eighteen o nine 392 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: in August of eighteen thirteen. Visitors left their impressions of 393 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: the catacombs in it as they left. General reactions in 394 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: this guest book were all over the place, although a 395 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: lot of people made notes along the lines of here 396 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: one can learn how to live, or some variation of 397 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: Memento mori or remember that you will die, which is 398 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: also the name of a gift shop in Magic Kingdom 399 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,919 Speaker 1: is Yes, I love it. Guests also observed how the 400 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: placement of the anonymous indistinguishable bones illustrated that all people 401 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: are equal in death. This was particularly true since the 402 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,120 Speaker 1: cemeteries that had been emptied included the bodies of famous 403 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: and influential people, including Maximiliere Robespierre. Throughout their existence, the 404 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: minds under Paris have been used for a range of 405 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,440 Speaker 1: purposes that really have nothing to do with getting limestone 406 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: or dealing with excess bodies. Researchers started working in the 407 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 1: catacombs of the nineteenth century, studying everything from the anatomy 408 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: and pathology of the bones to whether anything could or 409 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: did live down there. Photographer Gaspar Felix Tornatial known as 410 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,880 Speaker 1: Felix Nada, studied the use of artificial light in photography 411 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 1: down there. He patented the light source that he used 412 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: to photograph the catacombs in eighteen sixty one. People also 413 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: hid in them during the Revolution and the World Wars 414 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: and other times of strife, and the minds, of course, 415 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: have been put to all kinds of criminal use, including 416 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: being used by smugglers and people just hiding out from 417 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: the law. Even though so much work was done to 418 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,439 Speaker 1: map and stabilize the minds, they are still prone to 419 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: collapse and flooding, and it is easy to get lost. 420 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: For these reasons, entry into them was out laud on 421 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: November two. Visitors to the catacombs are allowed to walk 422 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: only through a designated section. As we mentioned before, it's 423 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: it's brief, which is fenced off from the rest of 424 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,360 Speaker 1: the Minds and parts of the ossuary that are off 425 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: limits to visitors. It is basically a one way tour. 426 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: You go down the steps to get in there, you 427 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: walk in a linear fashion through it and then go out, 428 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: and there's just a massive system beyond that that people 429 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: are not allowed into. Even so, today there is a 430 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: whole subculture of catacomb aficionados who are known as cataphiles, 431 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: who have their own slang and their own rules of 432 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: behavior and etiquette. They've used some of this space, uh, 433 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: the space that folks are not supposed to access, to 434 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: create artwork, including graffiti and carvings. Catophiles access the minds 435 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: through little known entrances, through things like sewers and sellers 436 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,359 Speaker 1: and other openings. There's a whole police department that is 437 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: tasked with trying to find those and close them off 438 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: because it can be very dangerous down there. As I 439 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: was researching this, I found a news story about a 440 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,360 Speaker 1: couple of teenagers who were lost down there for days. Um, 441 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 1: and that was just within the last couple of years. 442 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,400 Speaker 1: That is apparently a lot of people who hang out 443 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: down there all the time, fortunately with no injuries or 444 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: deaths involved, but they are still still a dangerous place 445 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 1: to go, especially without knowing your way around or how 446 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: to deal with stuff down there. Yeah. I mean even 447 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: you know, as you're walking through the area that you 448 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: are allowed into, you can see they are fenced off, 449 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, but you can see down some of 450 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: those other areas and it goes to pitch blackness in 451 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: a hurry. Yeuh. I can't imagine being lost down there, 452 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 1: particularly if you have maybe lost power on your phone 453 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: or something. I would be terrified, not because I am 454 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: afraid of the bones, but just because I am trying 455 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: up in a place where I can't see and no 456 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: one knows. Right. Yeah, and you have no cell phone signal. 457 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: There's there's really no way to get a signal down there. Um. 458 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: You can find on the internet and they will be 459 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: in the show notes. Various like magazine features by folks 460 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: who have gained the trust of some cataphiles to be 461 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: able to like be guided down there, and several of 462 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: them have harrowing moments where they're like, I have to 463 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: crawl through this little tunnel that I can barely fit through, 464 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: and rubble is raining down on me, and I can 465 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: tell that the metro is directly above my head. What 466 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:41,640 Speaker 1: if something happens like there's just nope, any time you're 467 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: crawling through a tunnel you barely fit through, I'm out. Yeah. Well, 468 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: it reminds me in a lot of ways of caving. 469 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 1: I know a lot of people go caving like an 470 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: adventure sport um, and that can also be very dangerous. 471 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: I don't understand why you would choose that over having 472 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 1: a delicious meal. I just don't understand. I know it's 473 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: very thrilling for some people. I have a friend who's 474 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: an adrenaline junkie. I never understand why she wants to 475 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: do the things she does. She must think I'm the 476 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: dullest human on the planet. I'm like, yes, but bacon, um, 477 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: there's happiness to be gained in other places. Um yeah, 478 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: but the catacombs. I mean, it goes without saying it 479 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: is a huge tourist attraction, but I really do highly 480 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: recommend visiting if you're in Paris. The thing that struck 481 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: me when we were there this time, I'm a little 482 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: older and theoretically wiser, and it really was more than anything. 483 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: It made me think about the equalizing nature of death 484 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: in a way that was very reassuring and not upsetting 485 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: at all. It was really really lovely and I'm grateful 486 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: that I had a chance to return. Yeah, especially in 487 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: the post French Revolution, with the you know, the the 488 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: ideals of the French Revolution, especially at the beginning, being 489 00:28:54,720 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: about equality and and fraternity. That like that presentation of 490 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: the bones as being this sort of universal equalizing I 491 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: think was intentional. I was more struck by just how 492 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: many there are, because Paris as a city has been 493 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: you know, a large depending on how you know large 494 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: in quotation marks, depending on what period of time, but 495 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: it has been inhabited as a city for so long, 496 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: and what do you do with the remains of your 497 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: dead when you run out of room? And so like 498 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: my fascination with it, I think was like a lot 499 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: more with just the more pragmatic idea of like, oh, 500 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: what do we do with all of our bodies? Do 501 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: you have a listener mail? This is from nicole Um 502 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: and Nicole has has had a little trip that involved 503 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: going to Niagara Falls and sent us a story from there. 504 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: So Nicole says, Hi, Tracy and Holly, I'm a longtime 505 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: listener of stuff you myths in history. I love the unique, 506 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: untold stories from history. I just returned from a family 507 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: road trip to Ontario, Canada, and I couldn't wait to 508 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: email this great stuff you missed in history story. I 509 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: came across in Niagara Falls. My husband and I were 510 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: driving back from a ride. We're gonna skip ahead. They 511 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: got to Horseshoe Falls and the upper Rapids, and then 512 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: to continue on. We wandered up to this beautiful spot 513 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: that was almost completely empty. We saw a total of 514 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: three other people the entire time we were there. As 515 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: we reached the water, we came upon an information sign. 516 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: We both read through the story of a scowl that 517 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: disconnected from its larger boat in nineteen eighteen. With two 518 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: individuals aboard, the scal floated down river rapidly toward the falls. 519 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: Some quick thinking, the two were able to open the 520 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: bottom dumping doors, flooding the compartment, slowing the boat's progress 521 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: until it grounded on some rocks. The scow was stuck 522 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: approximately two d from the shore and six hundred meters 523 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: from the falls. The informational sign went on to describe 524 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: the harrowing to a rescue attempt. Long story short, the 525 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: two crew were successfully rescued. I continued to read to 526 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: the end as my husband, who is a faster reader 527 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: than me, waited eagerly for me to look up when 528 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: I reached the final paragraph quote, A salvage operation to 529 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: recover the scow was not considered feasible, and so although 530 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: considerable deterioration has taken place, the scow still clings to 531 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: its rocky perch. I looked away, looked back at the sentence, 532 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: and then finally looked to the left of the sign. 533 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: That is when I saw the rusty boat. I didn't 534 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: notice when I walked up. Seeing how close the scow 535 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 1: was going over the falls was amazing and terrifying to see. 536 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: I have attached some pictures where you can see the 537 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: boat on the right and the spray of the falls 538 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: on the left. I can't imagine how terrified all involved 539 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: in the event must have built. I thought this was 540 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: such a great piece of history that I've never heard before. 541 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: I was so glad that my husband and I happen 542 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: to stumble across this spot immediately said that I couldn't 543 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: wait to get home and email this to stuff you 544 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: miss in history. I hope you enjoyed the story as 545 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: much as I did. There must be some great stories 546 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: around now Aagara Falls that would be perfect for the podcast. 547 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: I would love to hear you cover this story or 548 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: others about this magnificent natural wonder. Thanks for being the 549 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: best part of my day, Nicole. Thank you so much, 550 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: Nicole for this email. I wanted to share at number 551 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: one because that is a harrowing and fascinating story. Um. 552 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: But also uh, not too terribly long ago, we did 553 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: a podcast that was about going over Niagara in a barrel, 554 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: and that was what immediately came to mind when I 555 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: was reading uh this note because of the similarly harrowing 556 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 1: nature of that whole experience. UM. So, if you would 557 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: like to hear some more Niagara false stuff, we have 558 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: one on any Edison Taylor going over Niagara Falls in 559 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: a barrel. I'm sure there are others too. I will 560 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: maybe look stick a thing about them in the show notes. 561 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: UM if you would like to write to us about 562 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: this or any other podcast where at history podcast that 563 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com. And then we are all 564 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: over social media at missed in History and that's where 565 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. You can 566 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: come to our website which is missing history dot com 567 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 1: and find the show notes for the episodes that Holly 568 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: and I have worked on together and the archive of 569 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,600 Speaker 1: all the episodes previously. And you can subscribe to our 570 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: show on Apple, podcast, the I heart radio app, and 571 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: wherever else to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 572 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I Heart Radio's How 573 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit 574 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 575 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.