Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS) with Dr. Erin-Marie Legacey
Let’s get spooky. Venture below Parisian streets and into the catacombs: hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels housing millions of human skeletons, some fashioned into sculpture. Alie tracked down Dr. Erin-Marie Legacey – author of “Making Space for the Dead,” professor of French history and one of the world’s foremost experts on this eerie place. We chat about everything from miasmas to sinkholes, boggling cemetery history, smells, skulls, hidden chambers, (very) underground parties, and how we view our bodies post-life. Also: Alie takes a trip to see them herself.
Listen via Stitcher, Apple, Podbay, Podcast Addict, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Dr. Legacy’s book, “Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780-1830” on Bookshop.org and Amazon
A donation went to: Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas
Links to things we discussed:
Clip from Scariest Places on Earth
Héricart de Thury: the Walt Disney of a mass underground grave attraction?
Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, also called BHVP
Catacombes de Paris. Registre des visiteurs, (1809-1813)
Human fat deposits turned into soap and candles
Soap on a bone: how corpse wax forms
How the Paris Catacombs Solved a Cemetery Crisis
Paper mentioning the collapsing cellar
“Skyscraper of bones!” Fun For Louis scoots through the bones
Philibert Aspairt disappeared in the catacombs in 1793, found 11 years later
Teenagers rescued from Paris catacombs after three-day ordeal
Rethinking Utopia: the search for ‘topias’ in the Paris catacombs
Heat-Induced Brain Vitrification from the Vesuvius Eruption in c.e. 79
Pierre Giraud’s vitrification process
Assassin's Creed Unity Walkthrough The Death of Philibert Aspairt Murder Mystery Gameplay Let’s Play
Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn’s Concert in the Catacombs
Video: Party in the Paris Catacombs, But Don't Tell | The New York Times
Author Will Hunt recollects his experiences in the catacombs
More episodes you might like:
Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS)
Thanatology (DEATH & DYING) Updated Encore
Desairology (MORTUARY MAKE-UP)
Anthropodermic Biocodicology (HUMAN LEATHER BOOKS)
Ologies info:
Transcripts and bleeped episodes
Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!
Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram
Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram
Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media
Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn