A different look at Parisian cemeteries on All Saints Day

More than 200,000 visitors are expected to pay tribute to dearly departed ones, but in the French capital some of these spots are also famous tourist sites

The Day of the Dead, on 2 November, holds a special significance in many, especially Catholic, European countries as it is the day when we remember family members and friends, who are no longer with us. That day is thus a good opportunity to visit cemeteries and pay respect to the memory of dead people.

It’s often confused, though, with All Saints Day, on 1 November, which is dedicated to honouring all the saints, known and unknown. Nevertheless, since 1 November is a public holiday in some countries, such as France, it is easier for families to go to cemeteries on that day to clean and decorate the graves.

And for the rest of you, Parisian cemeteries can also be an interesting, and off-the-beaten-track destination in autumnal Paris, so why not pay a visit? Here’s some interesting information for you before you head out to explore that part of the French capital’s history.

What is the oldest cemetery in Paris?

This is the Calvaire cemetery (18th arrondissement), perched at the top of the Montmartre hill, next to the Saint-Pierre de Montmartre church. It was officially created in 1688, before being ransacked during the French Revolution, and reopened in 1801, then abandoned in 1831. Today, this cemetery is also the smallest in Paris. The most recent is the Parisian cemetery of Thiais, which opened in the Val-de-Marne in 1929.

What is the most visited cemetery in Paris?

Created in 1804, the Eastern Cemetery, commonly known as the Père-Lachaise cemetery, is the most famous necropolis in France and the most visited in Paris (more than three million visitors go there each year). Covering an area of ​​43 hectares, it is to date the largest intramural green space in the capital. 

Among the 70,000 concessions and the 26,000 boxes of the columbarium that it houses are the graves of major figures in the arts, sciences, politics, music (think Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Proust, Montand, Moustaki, Chopin, among others). Far from being just an open-air museum, Père-Lachaise is a working cemetery in which more than 3,000 funeral operations take place each year.

Places for protecting flora and fauna

Places for walking and meditation, the Parisian cemeteries offer a varied landscape of floral decorations, shrub beds and trees of multiple species. Each has its own particularities: the Parisian cemetery of Pantin (the largest active cemetery in France) and its planted paths, Thiais and its architecture from the 1930s opening onto a French-style park with many fruit trees, Bagneux and its lush vegetation with many birds and squirrels.

Cemeteries, as very large green spaces, are also a refuge for wild fauna and flora. There, animals have taken up residence, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of the city and the urban parks. urban. It is for example in the Parisian cemeteries outside the walls that we now find hedgehogs, tawny owls and even foxes!

How to be buried while respecting the environment in Paris?

The end of one’s life doesn’t mean the person can’t keep on contributing to a more sustainable urban environment. Green consciousness now goes into the afterlife, too.

For that purpose, an ecological burial site of 1,560 m² opened its doors at the end of August 2019, at the cemetery of Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne). Property of the City of Paris, this cemetery offers a burial concept that respects the environment.

And since 2015, Parisian cemeteries have all been maintained without chemical phytosanitary products to preserve the health of agents and visitors, reduce soil, water and air pollution, and promote biodiversity.