Final resting place for many world famous personalities like Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison.

Address
16 Rue du Repos

Phone/Contact Info
+33 1 55 25 82 10

Tickets/Prices
Free

Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most famous in the world. Many, many famous people are buried here among these grand monuments and mausoleums. Everybody knows Carmen. Here is the man who wrote the music, the famous composer Georges Bizet. Here is the grave of French novelist, Honoré de Balzac. All the French students know him because they have to read his books in high school. His most famous work is La Comédie humaine, The Human Comedy. It is a collection of novels.

"Père Lachaise is interesting because it has got a beautiful ambience. After you go to the galleries then you go to the final resting place of some of the great artists." In the cemetery, there are 5,000 trees. It is almost like a park! Not all people who are buried here are French. For instance, Jim Morrison, the singer of The Doors, is American, and he has his grave here because he died in Paris. This winged statue marks the site where Irish playwright Oscar Wilde is buried. As you can see, he has a lot of admirers who come and kiss his grave.

Père Lachaise was the first cemetery in France to have its own crematorium. It was built in the 1880s in Byzantine style. This is Mur des Fédérés, the Communards' Wall. In 1871, 150 people got shot here. Along this same wall are monuments dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. "For younger people who do not know a lot about the history behind it, it is really good learning. As a teacher, you can talk about the people and what they did and why they are important, and even if you do not know about them, you can make that sort of connection with the French culture." This cemetery is like a labyrinth, so before you get in, make sure you have got a map. I am Cécile, showing you Paris.