Beneath the city of Paris are miles and miles of sewer, tunnels, catacombs and rooms ‘big as ballrooms’. Will Hunt tells us that

• In the 1780s, when cemeteries were full, bones of around 6 million deceased were poured underground into pits.
• ‘Cataphiles’ are those today who go underground to drink, smoke and party.
• The author managed to walk for 14 miles, North to South, entirely underground.
• Other underground users had helpfully stolen road signs and placed them in the tunnels, to signify what street lay above.

Read more of the history of the Parisian underground, including the author’s own tour of the underground here.

Source: The Economist Intelligent Life Magazine