But the how and why are interesting too.
Originally the tunnels were formed by stone quarrying beneath the city of Paris. Much of the stone found in Parisian buildings were originally from here. Eventually there was concern as parts of the city above collapsed into the quarry on a few occasions. The quarry was abandoned.
There were great demands on church cemeteries for people seeking burial within their grounds. As this was a great source of income for the church, there was a practice of exhuming bones and reusing the burial plots. Eventually even the space for storing the bones was exhausted.
Furthermore, the constant burial and decomposition of bodies within city limits caused a health hazzard as ground water was contaminated.
Burial within city limits was banned and the land was reclaimed by placing the bones in the catacombs.
You can read more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris
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| See gallery Les Catacombes |
