Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

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CIMETIÈRE DU

PÈRE LACHAISE

EXPERIENCE Paris: Beyond the Centre 6pm (closes 30 min earlier daily Nov–mid-Mar) Did You Know?
⌂ Blvd de Ménilmontant q Père Lachaise, Alexandre Dumas @ 60, 61,
64, 69, 26 to Pl Gambetta # 8am–6pm Mon–Fri, 8:30am–6pm Sat, 9am–
This is the most visited cemetery in the world. It contains over
70,000 graves, including the tombs of numerous famous figures,
such as the writer Honoré de Balzac, the composer Frédéric
Chopin, the singer Jim Morrison and the actor Yves Montand.
Paris’s most prestigious cemetery is set on a wooded
hill over looking the city. The land was once owned by
Père de la Chaise, Louis XIV’s confessor, but it was
bought in 1803 by order of Napoleon to create a new
cemetery. Père Lachaise, the first cemetery in France
were transferred here
with a crematorium, became so popular that it was
in 1817 to add some
expanded six times during the 19th century. The remains of Molière
historic glamour to the
Today the cemetery is a place of pilgrimage for new cemetery.
rock fans, who come from around the world to see
the grave of Jim Morrison of The Doors. With its moss-
grown tombs and ancient trees, as well as striking
funerary sculpture, Père Lachaise is an atmospheric
and rather romantic place for a stroll.

A visitor exploring the
funerary art among the
lanes of Père Lachaise
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