Père-Lachaise Cemetery
Nov. 4th, 2009 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
london1967I don't know why but I have always loved cemeteries.
The Cimetière du Père-Lachaise is the largest in Paris and arguably the most famous.
Walking around it is like flicking through a very old French (but not only) edition of Who's Who.
Last Saturday we spent a few hours in there but only managed to see about half of it.
The autumn colours made it really beautiful too.
As it was All Hallows' Eve there were many people bringing chrysanthemums plus of course a few tourists.
Some of the tombs and monuments are Victorian masterpieces, remnants of an era when even dying had to be done properly.
One of my favourite is the joint tomb of two scientists Croce-Spinelli and Sivel who died of oxygen deprivation in 1875 in a balloon at the altitude of 8,600 meters.
The monument shows the 2 men lying side by side, covered only by a sheet
One side of the cemetery is full of monuments to the victims of Nazi death camps:
It is also interesting to learn about strange traditions: Oscar Wilde's tomb is covered in lipstick kisses (and the genitalia of the Jacob Epstein's monument have been hacked away);
the tomb of assassinated journalist Victor Noir is a fertility symbol because of the bulge in "that" area.
I've looked on the internet and apparently there are several schools of thought about what one should do: kiss him on the lips, rub his crotch, put flower in the top hat, touch the shoes.
As you can see some people do all of the above.
(I think that whoever wrote the English entry in Wikipedia got slightly over-excited: "The tomb, designed by Jules Dalou is notable for the realistic portrayal of the dead Noir, and for the fact that he appears to be at least partially sexually aroused, his large penis pushing his part-unbuttoned fly open.")
See below for more pictures:
The Cimetière du Père-Lachaise is the largest in Paris and arguably the most famous.
Walking around it is like flicking through a very old French (but not only) edition of Who's Who.
Last Saturday we spent a few hours in there but only managed to see about half of it.
The autumn colours made it really beautiful too.
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As it was All Hallows' Eve there were many people bringing chrysanthemums plus of course a few tourists.
Some of the tombs and monuments are Victorian masterpieces, remnants of an era when even dying had to be done properly.
One of my favourite is the joint tomb of two scientists Croce-Spinelli and Sivel who died of oxygen deprivation in 1875 in a balloon at the altitude of 8,600 meters.
The monument shows the 2 men lying side by side, covered only by a sheet
One side of the cemetery is full of monuments to the victims of Nazi death camps:
It is also interesting to learn about strange traditions: Oscar Wilde's tomb is covered in lipstick kisses (and the genitalia of the Jacob Epstein's monument have been hacked away);
the tomb of assassinated journalist Victor Noir is a fertility symbol because of the bulge in "that" area.
I've looked on the internet and apparently there are several schools of thought about what one should do: kiss him on the lips, rub his crotch, put flower in the top hat, touch the shoes.
As you can see some people do all of the above.
(I think that whoever wrote the English entry in Wikipedia got slightly over-excited: "The tomb, designed by Jules Dalou is notable for the realistic portrayal of the dead Noir, and for the fact that he appears to be at least partially sexually aroused, his large penis pushing his part-unbuttoned fly open.")
See below for more pictures:
