Homes for the Living and the Dead: Becoming Iconic Spaces

Authors: Raymond Lau, Mariela Bellido, Alexandra Reichert, Ellen Y.C. Leung

Type: Book Chapter
Book Title: Dynamics of Community Formation: Developing Identity and Notions of Home
Editors: Robert W. Compton, Jr., Ho Hon Leung, Yaser Robles
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (Fall 2017)

Introduction:
Paris, home to 2 million residents and the capital of France, attracts about 30 million visitors a year making it one of the most visited cities in the world.   Visitors get to admire this heritage cityscape that houses countless artistic treasures in museums and galleries, and not to mention vibrant restaurants and street-side cafes.   Yet what skips most of tourists’ mind, perhaps some locals’ as well, is the city’s largest monument and a ‘permanent home’ to 6 million people – deceased French and others - that lie below the city. Since the 13th century, limestone quarries right below where Paris stand, have been mined to build Paris into a vibrant city that has become the hub of Europe and a world cultural center.  These very limestone quarries were also made into the catacombs not only as a permanent home for the deceased but also as fillings to support the sinking Paris from collapsing into the hollow quarries.  The quarries and the catacombs are connected with more than 200 miles of tunnels.  The purpose of this research note is to raise the awareness of an often-neglected topic in home study that is to examine the home of the dead – burial ground, and the spatial relationship between the home for the living and the dead.  Building the city of Paris cannot be fully understood and appreciated without incorporating an investigation of what lies beneath it and the relationship between the two spaces.