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Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...
in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures in the arts buried at Père Lachaise include Michel Ney, Frédéric Chopin, Émile Waldteufel,
Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pi ...
, Marcel Proust, Georges Méliès, Marcel Marceau, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Thierry Fortineau, J.R.D. Tata, Jim Morrison and
Sir Richard Wallace Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (21 June 1818 – 20 July 1890), of Sudbourne, Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk, Hertford House in London, and of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris, was a British art collector and Francophile. Origins and youth Ric ...
. The Père Lachaise is located in the
20th arrondissement The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () af ...
and was the first garden cemetery, as well as the first municipal cemetery in Paris. It is also the site of three
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
memorials. The cemetery is located on the Boulevard de Ménilmontant. The Paris Métro station
Philippe Auguste Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...
on Line 2 is next to the main entrance, while the station
Père Lachaise A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accredit ...
, on both Line 2 and Line 3, is 500 meters away near a side entrance.


History and description


Origin

The cemetery of Père Lachaise opened in 1804 and takes its name from the confessor to
Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
, Père François de la Chaise (1624–1709), who lived in the Jesuit house rebuilt during 1682 on the site of the chapel. The property, situated on the hillside from which the king watched skirmishing between the armies of the Condé and Turenne during the Fronde, was bought by the city in 1804. Established as a cemetery by
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
during that year, plans were laid out by Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart; the property was later extended. Napoleon, who had been proclaimed Emperor by the Senate three days earlier, had declared during the Consulate that "Every citizen has the right to be buried regardless of race or religion". After the closing of the
Holy Innocents' Cemetery The Holy Innocents' Cemetery (French: Cimetière des Saints-Innocents or Cimetière des Innocents) is a defunct cemetery in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages until the late 18th century. It was the oldest and largest cemetery in Paris and h ...
on 1 December 1780 and as the city graveyards of Paris filled, several new, large cemeteries, outside the precincts of the capital, replaced them: Montmartre Cemetery in the north, Père Lachaise in the east, and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south. Near the middle of the city is
Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Passy) is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), ...
. The French officials approved the transformation of 17 hectares of Mont-Louis into the Cemetery of the East in 1803 and the work was given to neoclassical architect Alexandre-Theodore Brongniart. He used English-style gardens as inspiration, designing the cemetery with uneven paths adorned with diverse trees and plants and lined with carved graves. He anticipated various funerary monuments but only one was finally built: the grave of the Greffulhe family, in a refined neo-Gothic style. At the time of its opening, the cemetery was considered to be situated too far from the city and attracted few funerals. Moreover, many
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
s refused to have their graves in a place that had not been blessed by the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
. In 1804, the Père Lachaise contained only 13 graves. Consequently, the administrators devised a marketing strategy to improve the cemetery's stature: in 1804, with great fanfare, they organized the transfer of the remains of Jean de La Fontaine and
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
to the new resting place. The next year there were 44 burials, with 49 during 1806, 62 during 1807 and 833 during 1812. Then, in another great spectacle of 1817, the purported remains of Pierre Abélard and Héloïse d'Argenteuil were also transferred to the cemetery along with their monument's canopy made from fragments of the
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...
of Nogent-sur-Seine. By tradition, lovers or lovelorn singles leave letters at the crypt in tribute to the couple or in hope of finding true love. This strategy achieved its desired effect: people began clamoring to be buried among the famous citizens. Records show that the Père Lachaise contained more than 33,000 graves in 1830. Père Lachaise was expanded five times: in 1824, 1829, 1832, 1842 and 1850. Presently there are more than 1 million bodies buried there, and many more in the columbarium, which holds the remains of those who had requested
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
. The
Communards' Wall The Communards’ Wall (french: Mur des Fédérés) at the Père Lachaise cemetery is where, on May 28, 1871, during "Bloody Week", the final fighting of the Paris Commune, one-hundred and forty-seven ''fédérés'' or Commune soldiers, captured b ...
(''Mur des Fédérés''), located within the cemetery, was the site where 147 Communards were executed by the French Army during the Semaine sanglante, "The Bloody Week", following the final battles between the Army and the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...
. The Commune soldiers had been captured in earlier battles by the French Army, were taken to the prisons of Mazas and la Roquette, where they were quickly tried by military courts and sentenced to death. They were then taken to Pere Lachaise, where they were lined up against the wall and shot, and buried in common graves. the site is a traditional rallying point for members of the French political Left. Adolphe Thiers, the second elected President of France, and the first President of the
French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...
, who led the suppression of the Commune, is also interred in the cemetery.


Crematorium and columbarium

A funerary chapel was erected in 1823 by Étienne-Hippolyte Godde at the exact place of the ancient Jesuit house. This same Neoclassical architect created the monumental entrance a few years later. A columbarium and a crematorium of a Byzantine Revival architecture were designed in 1894 by Jean-Camille Formigé in one building. The roof consists of a large brick and sandstone dome, three small domes and two chimneys. In the 1920s, the main dome was decorated with stained glass windows by Carl Maumejean. The final columbarium is composed of four levels: two in the basement and two exterior levels, both can contain more than 40,800 cases. The crematorium was the first built in France. The first cremation took place on 30 January 1889, a little over a year after the law of 15 November 1887 proclaimed freedom of funerals and thus authorized cremations. Nonetheless, cremation remained uncommon until the end of the 20th century. With the work of anticlerical and free-thinkers (
Charles-Ange Laisant Charles-Ange Laisant (1 November 1841 – 5 May 1920), French politician and mathematician, was born at Indre, near Nantes on 1 November 1841, and was educated at the École Polytechnique as a military engineer. He was a Freemason and a libert ...
, André Lorulot), the use of cremation became more popular after overturning of the ban by the Catholic Church in 1963. From 49 cremations in 1889, there were about 5,000 cremations at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2012, cremation represents 45% of funerals in Paris. Inside the columbarium rest the remains of numerous celebrities including the director Max Ophuls and the comedian Pierre Dac. The box inscribed with Maria Callas’ name is only a cenotaph.


Religion

An 1804 law put in place by Napoleon addressed the question of cemetery organization relating to religious beliefs. It was required that an entire cemetery be built, or at least a section of a large cemetery, should be dedicated to a specific religion. Another law in 1881 repealed the former law but by that time at Père Lachaise, a Jewish enclosure and a Muslim enclosure already existed. The law of separation of church and state on 9 December 1905 had no impact on Père Lachaise because religious emblems were still allowed on private funeral monuments. The cemetery cross was removed in June 1883.


Chapel

Where the former house of
Père Lachaise A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accredit ...
stood, Alexandre-Theodore Brongniart envisioned an outstanding pyramid to be used by all Christian denominations. It was never constructed but the Parisian architect Etienne Hippolyte Godde began building a chapel in 1820. It was sanctified by the Catholic Church in 1834 and is supported by the basilique Notre-Dame du Perpetuel Secours.


Jewish enclosure

In 1804, a law was passed which allowed the sharing of cemeteries between diverse religions. The Jewish enclosure in Père Lachaise opened on 18 February 1810 in the 7th division. Enclosed by a wall, this part of the cemetery included a purification room and a pavilion for the caretaker. From 1865 to 1887 the 87th division also served as the Jewish enclosure. After the revocation of segregation within cemeteries in 1881, the walls of the enclosure were destroyed, and the Jewish dead were buried in the 96th division. Some noteworthy individuals buried in the 19th century include the actress Rachel Felix, the first French rabbi, David Sintzheim, and Robles, Singer and Fould Rothschild.


Muslim enclosure

In 1856, a Muslim enclosure was opened in the 85th division – part of this section of the cemetery was newly acquired in the last extension in 1850. Work on the mosque started in 1855 based on the plans created by Marie-Gabriel Jolivet. The monument included a waiting room, a
lavatorium A lavatorium (plural ''lavatoria''), also anglicised as laver and lavatory, was the communal washing area in a monastery, particularly in medieval abbeys and cathedral cloisters. Monks were required to wash before meals; thus the lavatorium was ty ...
intended for the purification of Muslims, and a counter for religious effects. The Muslim enclosure opened on 1 January 1857, making it the first Muslim cemetery in France. Between 1856 and 1870, there were only 44 burials – 6 perpetual concessions, 7 temporary and 31 free of charge. The enclosure was reduced multiple times and in 1871, an unused part was dedicated to the Jewish religion. The law of 14 November 1881 made segregation in cemeteries illegal. The fence of the enclosure was removed but the plant hedge was preserved. Despite the law, the mosque was conserved but the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, responsible for maintenance, lapsed in their responsibility. Plans for reconstruction were made, but during WWI, when the Ottomans became an ally to Germany and an enemy to France, those plans were cancelled. The mosque was destroyed in 1914 and a plan for reconstruction was abandoned in 1923 in lieu of the project to build the Grand Mosque of Paris.


Monuments

In 1899, the
Monument aux Morts Monuments aux Morts are French war memorials established to commemorate the losses of World War I. After the end of the 1914–1918 war there was a frenzy to build memorials to commemorate those who had been killed and it has been calculated that ...
by
Albert Bartholomé Paul-Albert Bartholomé was a French painter and sculptor. He was born on 29 August 1848 in Thiverval-Grignon, Yvelines, France, and died in 1928 in Paris. He won the Grand Prize for sculpture at the Exposition Universelle (1900), Exposition Univ ...
was erected in Père Lachaise as a memorial to unidentified deceased Parisians. The monument holds a communal ossuary. In addition to the elaborate tombs, there are various monuments dedicate to individuals or groups of people including: * Monuments for foreign soldiers who died for France during WWI * Monuments for foreign soldiers who died for France during WWII * Monuments in the memory of victims of concentration and extermination camps * Monuments in homage to victims of catastrophic aerial accidents * Monuments in homage to victims of June 1848 (the suppression of the Paris working class uprising)


Aux Morts ossuary

Behind the ''Aux Morts'' (To the Dead) monument sculpted by Paul-Albert Bartholomé lies an ossuary of the bones of Parisians from cemeteries all over the city, a smaller kind of modern-day catacombs. Although the monument is well known, it is not general knowledge that it is also an ossuary, and its doors usually remain closed and locked to the public. When it became overcrowded recently, the bones were removed for cremation and returned to the ossuary after the incineration process. In the Père Lachaise ossuary, efforts are made to store bones and ashes in separate boxes.


Cemetery today

Père Lachaise is still an operating cemetery and accepting new burials. However, the rules to be buried in a Paris cemetery are rather strict: people may be buried in one of these cemeteries if they die in the French capital city or if they lived there. Being buried in Père Lachaise is even more difficult nowadays as there is a waiting list: very few plots are available. The grave sites at Père Lachaise range from a simple, unadorned headstone to towering monuments and even elaborate mini chapels dedicated to the memory of a well-known person or family. Many of the tombs are about the size and shape of a telephone booth, with just enough space for a mourner to step inside, kneel to say a prayer, and leave some flowers. The cemetery manages to squeeze an increasing number of bodies into a finite and already crowded space. One way it does this is by combining the remains of multiple family members in the same grave. At Père Lachaise, it is not uncommon to reopen a grave after a body has decomposed and inter another coffin. Some family mausoleums or multi-family
tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
s contain dozens of bodies, often in several separate but contiguous graves. Shelves are usually installed to accommodate their remains. During relatively recent times, the Père Lachaise has adopted a standard practice of issuing 30-year leases on gravesites, so that if a lease is not renewed by a family, the remains can be removed, space made for a new grave, and the overall deterioration of the cemetery minimized. Abandoned remains are boxed, tagged and moved to ''Aux Morts'' ossuary, still in the Père Lachaise cemetery. Plots can be bought in perpetuity or for 50, 30 or 10 years, the last being the least expensive option. Even for the case of mausoleums and chapels, coffins are usually below ground. Although some sources incorrectly estimate the number of interred as 300,000 in Père Lachaise, according to the official website of the city of Paris, one million people have been buried there to date. Along with the stored remains in the ''Aux Morts'' ossuary, the number of human remains exceeds 2–3 million.


In popular culture

Père Lachaise is often referenced in French culture and has been included in various films, literary works, video games and songs. A number of English-language works also make reference to the cemetery.


Films

* 1979: '' French Postcards'' – Laura visits Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Isadora Duncan, and Édith Piaf burial sites. * 1991: '' The Doors'' by Oliver Stone – biographical film of Jim Morrison which includes various snapshots of the tombs of those buried in Père Lachaise, such as Georges Bizet, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust. Like Morrison, a poet and singer, the tombs shown are all people of the arts, mainly music, literature and poetry. * 2001: '' Amélie'' by Jean-Pierre Jeunet – images of the burial of Sarah Bernhardt with music from Samuel Barber * 2006: '' Paris, I Love You'' by Wes Craven – segment about the 20th arrondissement, a couple is strolling through the cemetery where the woman is trying to find Oscar Wilde's tomb * 2007: '' Two Days in Paris'' by Julie Delpy – scene where Marion is leaning on Jim Morrison's tomb * 2009: ''Oscar and Jim'' short film set entirely in the cemetery * 2012: '' Holy Motors'' by Leos Carax – Monsieur Merde kidnaps Kay M, a model, from a photo shoot in the cemetery * 2016: '' Elle'' by
Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
– the final scene takes place at the columbarium of the cemetery where Michele is seen in front of her parents' urn * 2018: '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' by David Yates – Grindelwald convenes his followers at Père Lachaise towards the end of the film. * 2020: '' Dil Bechara'' – Kizie Basu proposes Manny before returning to India.


Television

* 2000: '' Relic Hunter'' – Season 1, Episode 22 "Memories of Montmartre" – A tiara known as the Heart of Europe, the relic being sought in the episode, is hidden in vault A317 in Père Lachaise. * 2021: '' Emily in Paris'' – Season 2, Episode 3 "Bon Anniversaire!" – Luc takes Emily to the grave of Honore de Balzac to tell her a story. * 2022: '' Family Guy'' - Season 21, Episode 7 "The Stewaway" - Stewie goes to the look for the grave of Marcel Proust after getting lost in Paris at night.


Literature

* 1833: '' Ferragus'' by Balzac – description of cemetery * 1834: '' Le Père Goriot'' by Balzac – the Père Goriot is buried in Père Lachaise * 1844: '' Le comte de Monte Cristo'' by Alexandre Dumas – M. de Villefort "...considered the cemetery of Père Lachaise alone worthy of receiving the mortal remains of a Parisian family..." and intended to bury his believed-deceased daughter Valentine there. * 1862: ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...
is buried in Père Lachaise * 1869: ''
Sentimental Education ''Sentimental Education'' (French: ''L'Éducation sentimentale'', 1869) is a novel by Gustave Flaubert. Considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century, it was praised by contemporaries such as George Sand and Émile Zola, bu ...
'' by
Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
– description of cemetery


Video games

* 2015: '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' by CD Projekt – in the extension ''
Blood and Wine ''Blood and Wine'' is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez, Judy Davis, and Michael Caine. The screenplay was written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. R ...
'', a cemetery by the name "Mère-Lachaiselongue" is used to pay homage to the Père Lachaise cemetery. The Blood and Wine expansion is set in Toussaint, a French-inspired region.


See also

* List of burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery


Bibliography

*


References


External links


Père Lachaise Cemetery
– virtual tour in French and English
Information and news about Père Lachaise
in English *
Stereograveyart
Photographic gallery in 3-D {{DEFAULTSORT:Pere Lachaise Cemetery Cemeteries in Paris 1804 establishments in France Buildings and structures completed in 1804 Buildings and structures in the 20th arrondissement of Paris Rural cemeteries Tourist attractions in Paris Necropoleis