This website requires JavaScript.

Philibert Aspairt: death throes in the Catacombs darkness

Philibert's grave | Rémi Villalongue / CC-BY
Burial place Tragic destiny Paris catacombs

Do you think someone can get lost in the Catacombs? Like in a good old horror film, lost in the dark...

This tragic story happened to Philibert Aspairt: he died in Paris Catacombs, one day of November 1793... We can see his grave here.

He was a doorman in Val-de-Grâce hospital, in Paris, during the French Revolution.

He ventured all alone in the quarries, on November 3th, going down the Mansart staircase (about 30 m long) linking Val-de-Grâce to the Catacombs.

But he never came back. Workers found his skeleton 11 years later, in April 1804.

They recognized him thanks to his bunch of keys and his buttons... They buried him where they found his last remains.

Do you imagine his last moments in the dark, alone, in a dreadful silence?

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!