Montparnasse Cemetery

Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris
Details
Established 1824
Location Paris
Country France
Coordinates 48°50′N 2°20′E / 48.84°N 2.33°E / 48.84; 2.33
Type Non-denominational
Owned by Mairie de Paris
Size 19 hectares (47 acres)
No. of graves 35,000
Website Montparnasse Cemetery
Find a Grave Montparnasse Cemetery

The central roundabout, with an 1889 bronze statue by Horace Daillion

Montparnasse Cemetery (French: Cimetière du Montparnasse) is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, part of the city's 14th arrondissement.

History

Created from three farms in 1824, the cemetery at Montparnasse was originally known as Le Cimetière du Sud (Southern Cemetery). Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the closure, owing to health concerns, of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786. Several new cemeteries outside the precincts of the capital replaced all the internal Parisian ones in the early 19th century: Montmartre Cemetery in the north, Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east, and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south. At the heart of the city, and today sitting in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, is Passy Cemetery.

Notes

Montparnasse Cemetery is the resting place of many of France's intellectual and artistic elite as well as publishers and others who promoted the works of authors and artists. There are also many graves of foreigners who made France their home, as well as monuments to police and firefighters killed in the line of duty in the city of Paris.

The cemetery is divided by Rue Émile Richard. The small section is usually referred to as the small cemetery (petit cimetière) and the large section as the big cemetery (grand cimetière).

Although Baudelaire is buried in this cemetery (division 6), there is also a cenotaph to him (between division 26 and 27).

Because of the many notable people buried there, it is a highly popular tourist attraction.

Divisions 5 and 30 were originally Jewish enclosures and contain many Jewish graves.

Location

The main entrance to the cemetery is on Boulevard Edgar Quinet which leads to the big cemetery. There are smaller entrances to both the big and small cemeteries on Rue Émile Richard (near the junction with both Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard Edgar Quinet).

See also

References

    Coordinates: 48°50′17″N 2°19′37″E / 48.83806°N 2.32694°E / 48.83806; 2.32694

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