Friday, August 6, 2010

Photo Essay: Pere Lachaise Cemetery ~ Paris

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Bored of the Eiffel Tower or the Notre-Dame Cathedral when visiting the beautiful city of Paris? Why not spend a quiet afternoon walking along the haunting tombstones of the most famous and most visited cemetery in the world? The Père Lachaise Cemetery!

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1) Entrance of Père Lachaise, the most visited cemetery in the world. It was established in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte.




2) The colorful flowers contrast with the gray tombstones.



3) A memorial to hospital and medical staff fallen for their country.



4) Many rich aristocrats are buried here with their family, all competing against each other by the size of their tombs even after death.



5) Père Lachaise is home to some of the most famous French and foreign personalities.



6) The most visited grave is the grave of James Douglas Morrison, best known as Jim Morrison.



7) A monument in honor of Casimir Perier, a famous French politician under the reign of Louis Philippe I.



8) A monument to the dead, next to the Crematorium.



9) Grave of Charles Floquet, 55th Prime Minister of France.



10) Even the most beautiful statues start crumbling and names end up forgotten.



11) An angel guarding the grave of the Fauche family.



12) Spooky grave of Victor Schoelcher, a French abolitionist writer in the 1800s.



13) Probably the most photographed grave in the cemetery. Many tourists take snapshots while lying next to the statue and rubbing that special still clean spot.



14) Would you dare to enter? Creepy!



15) Second most visited location in the cemetery: Oscar Wilde's grave. The red dots are all lipstick marks.



16) Memorial to the workers fallen during the Nazi invasion.

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What about you? Have you ever visited the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris? What were your thoughts? 

4 comments:

The Jetpacker said...

Great shots! Our two favorite graves are the one with the one with the hands of a girl reaching out of her tomb, and the one with the ghostly person draped in a cloak standing up and clinging onto a tall tomb. Both freaky!

Jimmy Ng said...

Superb photography. This cemetery looks spooky and errie to. Someone should invite "TAPS" do some investigative work here. They're the ghosts specialists.

GotPassport said...

Dan, this is a fantastic post. I love it. I wanna go there when our little family visit Paris! This post will be our guide!

Kristina said...

I have been to Pere Lachaise several times, I just love the atmosphere there, especially on a cold winter day. your pictures are great as always.
viele grüsse, kristina

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