Walking Amidst The Dead At Père Lachaise Cemetery
Updated: 07/07/18 | July 7th, 2018
Death is non the cease for the residents of Père Lachaise inwards Paris. Their tombs together with graves are gawked at every twenty-four hours past times hundreds of camera-touting tourists seeking the cemetery’s famous together with not-so-famous inhabitants.
The cemetery was built inwards 1804 equally the urban kernel ran out of room for novel graves inside its limits together with was named later Louis XIV’s confessor, Père François de la Chaise (1624–1709), who lived inwards a menage close the cemetery land.
At the time, the locals considered the cemetery likewise far from the city. Père Lachaise alone had xiii graves its starting fourth dimension year. However, administrators devised a innovation and, with groovy fanfare, transferred the remains of Jean de La Fontaine (fabulist) together with Molière (playwright), ii of Paris’s most famous artists, to Père Lachaise, hoping that people would desire to endure buried close France’s famous heroes!
The strategy worked together with people clamored to endure interred with the cemetery’s famous novel residents. Today, at that spot are over a 1000000 people buried here, together with it’s withal an active cemetery, though to endure buried here, yous receive got to receive got lived or died inwards Paris.
Waking upwards on a vivid beautiful day, I headed to the cemetery to marvel at the graves, mausoleums, together with sepulchers of the dead. While a rainy twenty-four hours may receive got been to a greater extent than à propos, I welcomed the Sun (I lacked an umbrella).
Humans receive got e'er had a fascination with decease — we’ve been writing, singing, together with pondering almost it for ages. We dedicate much of our lives to thinking almost that eternal inquiry “What comes next?” then it doesn’t surprise me that cemeteries go tourist attractions.
To me, walking alongside the dead is both uncomfortable together with interesting.
I tend to experience uncomfortable because I think, “Here nosotros are, gawking at the graves of the dead similar they’re some museum exhibit to endure ogled.” The dead go a sideshow equally people exclaim, “Hey look, I receive got a motion painting of Jim Morrison’s grave! Yay!” Maybe it’s because nosotros desire to acquire unopen to the famous people nosotros could never acquire unopen to inwards life. I don’t know, only whatever the reason, equally I snap a dozen photos of Édith Piaf’s grave, I know I’m guilty of it, too.
But to a greater extent than than existence uncomfortable, I’m e'er interested inwards the people roughly me. Who were they? What lives did they lead? Were they happy? Sad? Were they loved, lost souls, artists, hypochondriacs? I similar to imagine them going through the ups together with downs of life nosotros all human face upwards or existence witnesses to a historical effect nosotros right away dissect inwards history books. What was similar for them? Will someone a hundred years thus ponder over my grave together with go “I wonder who this guy was.” How rapidly volition it endure earlier the world’s retentiveness forgets me?
As yous motion through the cemetery, it’s slow to acquire lost alongside the giant crypts together with trees. Covering 110 acres, the cemetery rises along a hill, with the older oculus a mishmash of winding streets together with long-worn-out names together with the newer tombs pose out inwards perfect urban kernel blocks. The moss-covered tombs together with tree-lined cobblestone streets enshroud the sounds of the city. All that remains are your footsteps together with the squawks from crows who remind yous that on this twenty-four hours of life, decease is all around.
Most visitors are drawn to the cemetery past times the famous people buried here:
- Édith Piaf – French singer, songwriter, together with actress.
- Jim Morrison – The Pb vocalist of The Doors.
- Oscar Wilde – The famous Irish Gaelic poet together with author (he wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray together with The Importance of Being Earnest).
- Honoré de Balzac – Playwright together with author of The Human Comedy
- Colette – French novelist together with Nobel Prize inwards Literature nominee.
- Michel Petrucciani – Accomplished jazz pianist who overcame osteogenesis imperfecta.
- Sadegh Hedayat – Author of The Blind Owl; translator together with intellectual
- Luigi Cherubini – Classical together with pre-Romantic composer.
- Samuel Hahnemann – Founder of homeopathy (and also a Freemason!).
- Pierre Bourdieu – Famous anthropologist, sociologist, together with philosopher.
- Molière – Author together with playwright; oft considered ane of the greatest French authors.
- Frédéric Chopin – Renowned pianist together with composer.
- Max Ernst – German linguistic communication creative mortal together with poet.
Visitors volition commonly build a suspension for these graves spell leaving the residual of the dead (and living) undisturbed.
I wandered through the graves, struck past times the quiet together with the enormity of the tombs. Many of the mausoleums seem lucifer for kings together with are spectacularly decorated with statues, art, together with sculptures depicting angels together with scenes of mourning. These people wanted to endure remembered. As I wandered around, I constitute a contrast to the tombs of the celebrities, who seemed to desire the opposite. Celebrity graves were oft the simplest equally if they no longer wanted inwards decease the spotlight they had inwards life.
I spent hours visiting the cemetery, oft sitting inwards silence, reflecting on those buried roughly me. Visiting the graves of then many people that I admire made me experience oddly connected to them. I paid my respects together with thanked them for the influence they’ve had on my life. I alone promise I’ll achieve one-half of what they did inwards their lives.
How to acquire to Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is located at sixteen rue du Repos. The best agency to acquire hither is to accept the no. 2 or no. three trouble together with acquire off at the “Père-Lachaise” halt together with walk downwards the street to the cemetery. You can’t immature adult woman its gigantic walls. It’s opened upwards daily from 8 am (9 am on Sundays) until 5:30 pm or vi pm, depending on the season. You tin scope notice visit their website for to a greater extent than data if yous necessitate to.
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