Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (110 acres). 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 Frédéric Chopin, Édith Piaf, Marcel Proust, Marcel Marceau, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Sir Richard Wallace.
Père Lachaise opened in 1804 and takes its name from the confessor to Louis XIV, 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 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”.
Père Lachaise is located in the 20th arrondissement 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 memorials.
Ghosts of the cemetery:
Baroness Stroganoff, wife of Count Demidoff haunts the cemetery. Exiled in Paris, separated from her husband, she died at the age of 40 at the head of an imposing fortune. She would have deposited a will, which according to the terms would bequeath her fortune to the man who would stay next to her body, in the grave, for 365 days and 366 nights. There were 3 attempts but the unfortunate ones went mad. Nevertheless, the white lady, as she was known, would continue to walk through the cemetery to attract suitors to her.
The most famous international ghost is undoubtedly the co-founder of the Doors group: Jim Morrison. In 1997 during a trip to Paris, Brett Meisner, a rock historian, visited his grave and asked a friend to take a photo of him in front of his idol’s grave. But when he presents the photo to one of his assistants, he makes a stunning discovery. In the photograph, behind Brett Meisner, a white-clad figure appears who looks very much like Jim Morrison. This photograph was studied and re-studied and no suspicious editing or special effects could be discovered.
And last but not least, this is not a haunting but it is spooky. The beautiful tomb of Frederic Chopin, the Polish-French composer is missing something. He loved his two countries so much, but above all, he was so afraid of being buried alive that he had his body buried in Paris and his heart in Warsaw.
Getting there:
The cemetery is located on the Boulevard de Ménilmontant. The Paris Métro station Philippe Auguste on Line 2 is next to the main entrance, while the station Père Lachaise, on both Line 2 and Line 3, is 500 meters away near a side entrance.
Face au 21 boulevard de Ménilmontant – 75020 Paris
It is free to visit and open from 9am-5:30pm most days.
Have you ever visited Père Lachaise Cemetery? What about its namesake in New Orealns?
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