Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, France

Montparnasse Cemetery was created from three farms in 1824. Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the closure, owing to health concerns, of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786. Several new cemeteries outside the precincts of the capital replaced all the internal Parisian ones in the early 19th century: Montmartre Cemetery in the north, Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east, and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south. At the heart of the city, and today sitting in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, is Passy Cemetery.

Montparnasse cemetery is the burial place of many of France's intellectual and artistic elite as well as publishers and others who promoted the works of authors and artists. There are also many graves of foreigners who have made France their home, as well as monuments to police and firefighters killed in the line of duty in the city of Paris.

The cemetery is divided by Rue Émile Richard. The small section is usually referred to as the small cemetery (petit cimetière) and the large section as the big cemetery (grand cimetière).

Although Baudelaire is buried in this cemetery (division 6), there is also a cenotaph to him (between division 26 and 27). Because of the many notable people buried there, it is a highly popular tourist attraction.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Ananya THIRUMURTHY (3 years ago)
Montparnasse cemetery is the house of great memories and stories which has to be visited onces by all .

Issa Khorrassany (3 years ago)
Some of the most famous people are buried there. Some very nice cemetery architecture. Worth a visit if your in Paris.

Javier Fernandez (4 years ago)
This is a lovely place for a quiet walk on a sunny day. We didn’t have a map of the famous graves but it was easy to find them on google maps . Lots of unusual sculptures and interesting graves with lots of history

Fernando Matile (4 years ago)
Beautiful cemitery in gothic stile

Monika Schomburg (5 years ago)
There are more atmospheric cementeries in Paris, but this one has a lot of celebrities. Visit Susan Sontag. She is not mentioned on the board I think!

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