9 of the Most Famous Cemeteries in Paris—and Who To Visit There

Père Lachaise Cemetery is not only France’s largest graveyard, it's also one of Paris’ top attractions. Spanning 45 acres (18 hectares), it’s dotted with nearly 70,000 decorative tombs, some housing world-famous writers, singers, and artists. Make a beeline for Oscar Wilde’s kiss-covered tomb, Edith Piaf’s flower-adorned grave, and Jim Morrison’s tombstone, where rock fans leave letters, notes, and tokens. However, this internationally known cemetery has more to discover beyond these famous denizens. Take a deeper dive into its history and lesser-known landmarks on a guided walking tour or ghost tour—or, if you prefer, explore it at your own pace.

Situated in the bohemian 18th Arrondissement, Montmartre Cemetery is home to 20,000 burial plots along with some of the most notable tombs in Paris, including that of painter Edgar Degas, novelist Émile Zola, and symbolist artist Gustave Moreau. However, many French visitors skip the 19th-century celebrities and head straight to singer Dalida’s grave to leave flowers for the 20th-century pop icon. The distinct ambiance of the cemetery's gypsum quarry origins is enhanced by the presence of around 50 feral felines that call this graveyard home. Group and private walking tours of Montmartre often include a visit to this celebrated cemetery and other nearby attractions like Basilique du Sacré-Coeur.

While Montparnasse Cemetery is Paris’ second-largest necropolis—comprising 47 sprawling acres (19 hectares)—tourists often overlook it in favor of Père Lachaise Cemetery. However, this tree-lined graveyard offers beautiful tombs and graves of famous French intellectuals, including Charles Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre. It’s an ideal destination for tranquil cemetery sightseeing in Paris. Guided audio tours of Montparnasse are also popular, and give you a close look into the lives of legends such as Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, and Marc Chagall, who once called this quarter home.

While the Passy Cemetery is petite as far as Parisian cemeteries go, it’s considered one of the city’s prettiest. Opened in 1820 by Napoleon Bonaparte in the ultra-wealthy Trocadero neighborhood, it quickly became a highly sought-after final resting place for Paris’ most affluent families. Amid the 2,600 plots, you’ll find tombs of influential 19th-century French creatives, including impressionist painters Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet and composer Claude Debussy. Easily within walking distance of the Champ de Mars (Mars’ Field) and Eiffel Tower, it’s a nice stop if you seek a bit of serenity away from the tourist crowds.

Though it houses 15,000 inhabitants, Batignolles Cemetery gets few visitors. Located in the 17th Arrondissement, this 19th-century graveyard is well worth a visit if you venture to the hip, multicultural Épinettes neighborhood. A section of the busy Périphérique Boulevard passes over part of the cemetery, creating an eerie (albeit noisy) juxtaposition to the gravesites. Among the 27 acres (11 hectares) of tombstones you’ll find surrealist André Breton, magician Clémentine de Vère, avant-garde painter Édouard Vuillard, plus dozens of other noteworthy French denizens. Make sure to get a map upon arrival to help you navigate the expansive grounds.

As the highest point on Paris’ eastern side, Belleville Cemetery is where 18th-century French engineer Claude Chappe tested his optical telegraph. You can take in this history and the cemetery's 3,200 graves, among which you’ll find the final resting place of a few notable Parisians, such as inventor Léon Gaumont. Aside from these noteworthy occupants, this cemetery reflects centuries of the longstanding Belleville community via the lives of soldiers, French revolutionaries, and locals alike. A Belleville walking tour can provide more context to the neighborhood’s people and their cemetery.

Sixty-five feet (20 meters) beneath the residential streets of the 14th arrondissement lay the anonymous remains of some 6 million Parisians in the Paris Catacombs, which were created in the late 18th century to solve the city's overflowing cemeteries and public health concerns. Under the cover of night, bodies were exhumed from local graveyards and transferred to the underground tunnels, which eventually became an ossuary.

Today, you can enjoy a mile (1.6 kilometers) of arrangement of skulls, femurs, and ulnas. A skip-the-line special access tour, including VIP access to restricted areas, is a great way to learn about the subterranean cemetery’s storied history.

Related: Know Before You Go: Visiting the Paris Catacombs

Take a bus to the Paris suburb Asnières-sur-Seine and you’ll find what experts consider the modern world’s first zoological graveyard, the Cemetery of the Dogs and Other Pets. You’ll find a few canine celebrities, including Hollywood star Rin Tin Tin and Barry the St. Bernard (a Swiss rescue dog), among the statues and tombs of people's furry and feathered friends. Just be warned: You may shed a tear or two witnessing the undying devotion of humans to their pets.

While you won’t find the 12th Arrondissement’s Picpus Cemetery on many tourist maps, this necropolis is one of the most significant historic cemeteries in Paris connected to the French Revolution (1789–1799). During the Reign of Terror (1793), the city witnessed mass government-sanctioned executions of thousands of alleged counter-revolutionary suspects. Picpus Cemetery served as a dumping ground for around 13,000 of those who died by guillotine. After the Revolution it became a private cemetery and memorials were erected to honor the dead. Today, the new plots are exclusively reserved for descendants of family members who died in the French Revolution.

Insider tip: American tourists often come to see the tombs of Marquis de Lafayette, who played a pivotal military role in the American Revolutionary War, and his wife, Adrienne, who lost several family members to the guillotine.