Père Lachaise cemetery: what stories lie beneath?
Not only macabre, there's much beauty and many fascinating stories to unearth here.
Hi folks,
On today’s podcast we are exploring history - both Earful Tower history and Paris history, to discuss the world-famous Père Lachaise cemetery.
In this newsletter, we’ll take a deeper dive into some of the graves mentioned in the episode and some of the stories behind them.
The podcast episode
For the first part of the episode, we have reached back into the Earful archives to bring you an interview with author Joe Start, who wrote a book on Père Lachaise called The Chairfather - a literal translation of the cemetery’s name in French. In the second half of the episode, Marie Segura from My Private Paris gives us her unique take on the cemetery.
Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find the episode on iTunes or Spotify or via my website here.
A dive into its history
On the eastern slopes of Paris lies the sprawling cemetery of Père Lachaise. Named after a priest who was the personal confessor of Louis XIV, it has become the most visited cemetery in the world thanks to its famous residents, which include Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde. With over a million people making Père Lachaise their final resting place, there are many secrets and long-forgotten stories lying beneath its surface. If you’re prepared to step off the beaten path, there’s a whole new side to explore.
The graves of Père Lachaise
Joe visited the tombstones countless times to research the book and interview the dead and he cannot recommend it highly enough, ‘the stories and the sights that you see there, it’s continually fascinating to me’. For those amongst you who are reticent about visiting a cemetery, Joe shares advice on the ideal way to visit, his tips on which graves to find and what to avoid.
Alongside the interesting stories, many graves should be equally admired for their beauty. As Joe says, ‘Père Lachaise is the world’s largest open-air museum, there are more than a thousand sculptures… by fantastic sculptors, in fact, for some of them the sculptor is more famous than the person who’s buried underneath.’ Of course, it isn’t possible to visit every grave in the cemetery in one visit and the majority belong to private individuals, so which should be prioritised?
Kisses for Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s famous sculpture headstone was placed on his grave in 1914 and pretty soon, a tradition started where visitors would leave lipstick kisses on the pale stone. Unfortunately, those visitors were unaware that these kisses were actually damaging the sculpture. A hundred years after the sculpture was installed, a new protective glass wall was added. And fun fact: the Irish government pays for the maintenance of Oscar Wilde’s grave as it’s considered an Irish monument overseas.
Security for Jim Morrison
Père Lachaise may seem like a surprising resting place for the frontman of The Doors, Jim Morrison. However, you can be buried here if you die in Paris or you are French. After Morrison’s premature death in the Marais, his girlfriend purchased a small plot in a secluded corner. Of the many visitors who have paid homage to the musician, some weren’t behaving particularly well, so the cemetery staff decided to hire a security guard to watch over the discrete grave. Read here to find out about the strange offerings people leave at this grave (and others).
Go on a scavenger hunt for Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf’s grave is one of the trickier to find in the cemetery, as she is buried with several family members in the Gassion-Piaf site. Of course, its inaccessibility means that when you do eventually find it, you’ll likely be the only one there. Although, judging by the constant presence of fresh flowers, Edith Piaf’s is clearly one of the most visited in the cemetery.
Crossing borders for Chopin
When the Polish-French composer Frédéric Chopin died in 1849, it was decided that his heart should be buried in Warsaw, separately from his body. His sister also sprinkled Polish soil over his coffin as it was being buried. Undoubtedly, this grave is the most intercontinental in the cemetery.
An authentic Guimard grave
Recently I was wandering in Père Lachaise when I happened upon this grave designed by Hector Guimard, the father of father of Art Nouveau (and the guy who designed the beautiful Métro entrances). I don’t know much about its owner, Ernest Caillat, but one thing is certain - if you ask Hector Guimard to design your headstone then you must have impeccable taste.
That’s all for this week. Thank you for listening and to Marie and Joe for sharing their knowledge. You can find Joe's book, The Chairfather, here or on ebook here. Here’s your chance again to listen to the podcast.
This season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by My Private Paris, which is an award-winning travel company creating deluxe itineraries for Paris and beyond. See what they offer here and be sure to let them know that you came from The Earful Tower.
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Oliver