Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris
To the Dead - Monument Aux Morts, a monument for the unidentified Parisians and the site of the communal ossuary
Aux Morts - To the Dead
Lying to the East of Paris in the 20th arrondissement is the city’s largest, and most famous cemetery; Père Lachaise. Bought by Napoleon in 1804, the cemetery was established to accommodate the dead as the churchyards in central Paris overflowed and burst at the seams. And unlike the churchyard cemeteries, it was open to all Parisians, regardless of race or religion, but had one rule: the deceased must have lived and died in Paris to be buried within its tree-lined avenues.
Today, the cemetery is estimated to hold more than 1 million bodies with many more in the columbarium housing the ashes of the cremated. Among the dead residing within the walls of Père Lachaise include many a celebrity; the writers Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust, musicians including Chopin, Édith Piaf, and Jim Morrison, the artists Modigliani and Pissarro, as well as Marcel Marceau, the famous French mime, to name but a few. The graves bring in an estimated three and a half million visitors to the site yearly, making it the most popular cemetery in the world.
Pere Lachaise is still an active burial site for the people of Paris, with plots typically being sold for 30-year terms these days. But be forewarned, if the lease is not renewed after this time, the bones will be dug up, moved to the ossuary, and the site re-sold for new tenants to inhabit!
The elaborate mausoleum of the Baroness Elizaveta Demidoff, the Vampire Princess
The Tomb of the Vampire Princess
Aside from the celebrities that reside within the cemetery, Père Lachaise is also home to its very own vampire. Up on a hill, within a towering marble mausoleum adorned with strange emblems, wolf heads, and bats, lies the Baroness Elizaveta Demidoff. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1779 to a wealthy family, she separated from her diplomat husband and moved to Paris, where she was known both for her beauty and for her spirited character. She died in Paris as a single, wealthy lady following a brief illness in 1818 at the age of 39 and is said to lay in a glass coffin within her mirror-lined tomb atop a hill in Père Lachaise.
Legend has it that she left behind her last will and testament, bequeathing a great sum of money to any man who could endure one year with her inside the tomb upon her death. There were strict stipulations outlined in the will of course; that the contender was to have no visitors save for a servant who would deliver meals and dispose of waste once a day, that they were to speak to no one, including the servant, and that they were only allowed out for an hour to walk among the graves by the light of the moon each night. It is said that a number of brave individuals had tried, but all had failed to complete the challenge and emerged from the tomb as changed men. Some of the ‘watchers’ suffered mental breakdowns while others suffered heart attacks, and all claimed that the Baroness drained them of life and blood, even having the puncture marks on their necks to prove it. And none of the men lasted longer than three weeks watching the Baroness in her glass coffin within the mirror-lined tomb upon the hill.
Did the baroness leave these strange stipulations to prevent her being buried alive? Was it all fake-news of the day? Or was she really a vampire, feeding on the watchers who braved to enter her tomb? We will never know, but to this day, many visitors report a strange feeling when in the vicinity of her tomb along with the desire to flee the area, so you be the judge!
An opened Mausoleum in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Top Tips
Free to enter and explore, you can download a map for a self-guided tour of the cemetery which shows graves of interest at http://www.paris.fr/cimetieres
Just make sure you get out of the gates before they are locked for the night!
There are also plenty of guided tours available. Check out getyourguide or viator to book.
Opening times: November to mid-March from 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday and from 9am to 5.30pm on Sundays and public holidays.
Mid-March to October: 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6pm on Saturday and 9am to 6pm on Sundays and public holidays.
Address: Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Face au 21 boulevard de Ménilmontant - 75020 Paris
How to get there: The cemetery is on Metro line 2 with the closest station being Philippe Auguste which will take you to the main gates
There are washrooms just inside the main gates that are free to use.