First of all I chose to research the Catacombs of Paris because, well, frankly I was interested in them. The huge quantities of human bones and skulls are so terrifying yet interesting to me. For all the numerous times the bodies were moved and I can't even imagine the work of the people who had to dig the tunnel system under Paris. I chose to write my article on the catacombs because of the above and the sheer size of the catacombs, there are so many miles and levels, I just think it's amazing and wanted to know more. How it became a common grave for millions of bones, where the bones were located before their final resting place in the catacombs, were all things I wanted to know. The Catacombs of Paris are an underground mass grave. The need for a mass grave arose when some cemeteries in Pairs became enormously overcrowded and as a result they had to close. Most cemeteries back then were owned and operated by the church. The Parisian mines beneath the streets of Paris were no longer used for mining purposes. The mines served as an excellent place to move all the corpses. Parisian cemeteries were emptied and moved to the underground tunnel system. The entrance to the Catacombs is located in the Fourteenth arrondissement of Paris. In the public section of the catacombs where visits are easy to obtain, however there is an adventurous race of explorers known as cataphiles who explore the closed areas of the catacombs, this is done outside of the law. There are two hundred and thirteen total steps in the catacomb tour. It takes approximately forty-five minutes to complete the tour. Les Innocents, one of the largest cemeteries in Paris at the time, was a full start, workers had all the corpses and bones exhumed along with the skulls of the people buried there were moved wagon after wagon into the mines beneath the streets. At first the bones were simply thrown where there was space, there was no organization in them. Subsequently, all the bones and skulls were rearranged into drawings, and the catacombs had a certain order. After being organized, the catacombs were opened to the public. Only a small part is open to the public. So, naturally, there are people who want to go where their catacombs are not open to the public. These people are called cataphiles. They are explorers of the catacombs, they can stay there for weeks. The catacombs are one of the largest mass tombs in the world and one of the most attractive sites in Paris for tourists from all over the world.