[pranataï]

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<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.shiftmag.eu/doc/issues/14.pdf">http://www.shiftmag.eu/doc/issues/14.pdf</a><!-- m --> (page 19)

DESTINATION UNDERGROUND: CATAPHILIA IS CATCHING
A labyrinth of mysterious passageways, subterranean
ossuaries and forgotten nuclear bunkers housing relics
from the Cold War – what sounds like the setting
for an Indiana Jones movie is in fact the underground
world that lies beneath your feet when you are walking
around Paris. Accessible through various manholes,
the Mines of Paris attract scores of clandestine
visitors – the quarries are off limits to the public for
safety reasons. The only exception to this rule is the
Municipal Ossuary, also called the ‘Catacombs of
Paris’. The latter term is popularly used to refer to the
network as a whole.

Why do the ‘cataphiles’ keep coming back in spite of
police raids and heavy fines? “When I was a kid, the
books I read […] were full of ancient architecture and
all sorts of subterranean structures and labyrinths,”
says à‰douard, a regular. “Visiting the catacombs
brings these stories to life.” Even though he deplores
the ban on visits as ‘patronising’, he enjoys the liberty
of exploring them without guardrails and warning
signs: it adds to the sense of adventure.

Paris is not the only European underground destination:
other cities with catacombs worth a visit include
Vienna, Edinburgh and Granada. The catacombs beneath
the Capuchin monastery in Palermo are worldfamous
for their mummified corpses.