Paris is even more crowded in death than in life, and a shortage of cemetery space is driving both a rise in the popularity of cremation and in the cost of being buried in a Paris cemetery.
The city has fourteen cemeteries, but only a handful are larger than an acre; the major ones (Pere Lachaise, Montmartre and Montparnasse) were all created to replace the small parish and other graveyards that had become a major space and sanitation issue in the early 1800s.
But they are now mostly full, with only 171 plots available last year. That’s in part because 97% of the plots were sold to families as a perpetual resting place; only in the past few years have authorities turned to leases of 10 to 50 years, with remains relocated after that. Last year’s price for a Paris grave was €16,000, not including the cost of any tombstone or memorial.
While there are cemeteries still available outside the city, it appears that many Parisians have turned to cremation; the number of cremations in the city has tripled over the past 20 years.
Photo: Montmartre Cemetery, 2014, TravelGumbo blog. Links to TravelGumbo blogs on Paris cemeteries: Montmartre Pere Lachaise Montparnasse
