Paris underground

Somewhere in the past I saw an exhibition – I don't remember if it was inCenter Pompidou, or perhaps in Carnival Museum , dedicated entirely to the history of Paris – which revolves around the underside of Paris. You might say, what else could be on the ground floor of a large city, except, perhaps, a basin of groundwater? Well, in Paris, as in probably several other cities in the world, it's not that simple.

It should be remembered that for centuries the villages surrounding Paris were used to quarry limestone and kurkar, which were used to build the city itself. Quarrying intensified during the time of Baron Haussmann (see above) with the impetus for the reconstruction of city ​​of Lights.

Following that building boom, some of those “outer” neighborhoods – Passy, ​​Montmartre, Belleville, Butte aux Cailles and others – were annexed to Paris, creating the 20-neighborhood snail known today. However, the city council suddenly found itself facing other challenges – the city engineers determined that not everywhere could be built as they pleased – many neighborhoods were located on loose ground, above unstable underground quarries, above which it was not possible to build more than two or three stories (see Article about the Mouzaia neighborhood in the north of Paris).

One of the quarries around the city was in the area now known as Butte Chaumont Unlike all the other quarries, this was an open-pit quarry (i.e., not in underground tunnels), and on top of that, it was also the city's execution area.

At the same time, the area became a public dump, and in short, a collection of garbage, stench, and leftovers of all kinds. It remained open for many years until, during the city's reconstruction work during the time of Baron Haussmann (Emperor Napoleon III, mid-3th century), city engineers decided to develop a green park in the place for the benefit of the city's residents. Instead of covering the area, it was decided to utilize the structure of the land and create an "English park" (where the vegetation grows "as if" wild, as opposed to a "French garden," where each flower is planned and is in its designated place).

All the other quarries, from which building stones for the city were quarried, were around Paris. When the quarrying work in the depths of the limestone soil was gradually stopped, these villages were annexed to the city of Paris and expanded to its present form, but it quickly became clear that due to the many tunnels in the underground of these areas, it was not possible to build tall buildings on them, and with no choice, some of these annexed villages retained their rural character - thus, neighborhoods such as the Mouzaia (see above), the Butte-aux-Cailles, Montmartre And others, at least in parts of them.

Add to this urban, transportation, and technological development over the years, and in depth it becomes apparent Paris Like a slice of Swiss cheese. As described in the video above, in the first meters below ground (0 to 5 meters) – electricity, gas, water pipes (and as mentioned above, pneumatic mail), below them is the first layer of metro channels, 5 to 10 meters, where you will also find building basements, underground parking lots and the vaults of the treasures of the churches of Paris.

A little deeper – 10 to 15 meters – are additional metro canals, along with the Seine River channel that runs through the city, and most of the large sewers. The metro canals that run from the right bank to the left bank (and vice versa…) are the first to go deeper, and especially the rapid metro canals, the RER, which had to be dug deeper (30 to 50 meters!) because all the space was already occupied.
So, as you wander around Paris, you marvel atEiffel Tower Towering about 300 meters above you. Try to imagine what is happening about 30 meters below your feet!

Sewers, Bièvre River

On one of my trips to the frozen city, I came to a neighborhood – a village – in the southern part (today, the 13th arrondissement), “La butte aux Cailles” (short explanation: in French, “Caille” is the name of the bird “quail” in Hebrew.

As in many other cases in French, and in other languages ​​as well, surnames were taken from the world of animals and nature, and although the literal meaning is the same bird, here the neighborhood is named after a wealthy farmer named Pierre Caille, who purchased the entire hill in 1543 – then, outside the city – in order to build houses there to house all of his farm workers.

The name remained, and its meaning was distorted. In exact translation – “The Hill of the Sons of Kai”, although in many websites, guides, and languages ​​its name is translated – “The Hill of the Serpents”). On one of the streets of the cute and quiet neighborhood I came across a metal plaque fixed to the sidewalk (later I discovered more like it).

Which immediately reminded me of the history of the disappearing stream.

But back to the beginning.

Sorry for the somewhat plastic description, but what do you think happens when you press the flush button on the toilet in the bathroom? In the white ceramic toilet, the water swirls, sweeps everything away… and disappears. Every city has its own story, but in Paris, the city of lights, it is a little special.

Surprisingly, the Romans already thought about this. In their time, a tunnel was carved to drain “used” water under the route of Bd. St.-Michel, somewhere in the Latin Quarter. But this canal was forgotten in the course of history, and the next time anyone thought about it was during the time of King Philippe-Auguste (1165-1223), but he was content with a sloping, open canal in the middle of the main streets of the city.

Since the canal was open and accessible to all, people would empty their sewage into the canal in the middle of the street, right from their windows on the first, second, and even third floors. In the summer, the heat and sun intensified the rot and stench; in the winter, the frozen water – with all that went with it – splashed everywhere, and sometimes even froze on the open sidewalk. In a short time, these streets became sources of unbearable stench and filth.

Medical professionals quickly realized that the city's residents had to be separated from the polluted water. The way to do this was to cover the sewers (which were not yet called that) so that their contamination would not spread into the air. Slowly, closed, covered canals were created on certain streets in the city, but not yet an orderly and organized project covering all the streets of the city.

One of the main problems in Paris in the early 19th century was the Bievre, a small stream that flowed into the Seine River in Paris. The stream flowed in the southern part of the city, in what is now the 13th and 5th arrondissements of the city. Along its length were many small factories – many of them leather and textile – that required large quantities of running water to clean their products.

Naturally, the small stream quickly became a stinking and filthy channel that affected the entire city. Over the years, the stream was closed off by an external canal and became an underground stream that is no longer visible on the surface today and drains directly into the Parisian sewer system.

To save a lot of stories, history, and hardships, let's jump straight to the second half of the 19th century. Baron Eugene Haussman (1809-1891), who was the governor of Paris during the reign of King Napoleon III, received a “white card” (“Carte Blanche”) from him to renew the face of the city.

As part of all the work that was done – some of which we will write about later – the Baron built a system of underground drainage channels throughout the city. Naturally, sewer pipes were stretched along alleys and narrow streets, draining the sewage from all the buildings above them. This pipe drained and connected to small underground channels, which also “ran” under the city streets, all driven by gravity, without a single pump. The small channels reached the large avenues, connecting to the wide channels that drained the avenues, as well as all the small streets that branched off from it.

A visit to the sewers of Paris

Today, the Parisian sewer system – largely based on the system from the days of Baron Haussmann – includes about 2,600 km of canals of various sizes. The main entrance for tourists – yes, you can enter! – to the Parisian sewer system is at Place Habib Bourguiba, near the Pont de l'Alma in the 7th arrondissement.

The system is defined as an “urban museum” and a visit to it involves sailing in small metal boats, riding in small carriages that travel on a fixed track along the banks of the canals, and in some parts even walking along the edge of the canals…. Of course, the tour is accompanied by various and varied smells. The system’s workers are responsible for draining and cleaning the canals of silt and blocking objects, or simply accumulated mud and silt (yes, including urine, feces, toilet paper and other “items”).

In the wide canals, which are probably dug and stretched right under the city's major avenues, there are signs with the names of the streets, avenues and intersections, so you know where you are standing.... Guests stay there for about an hour and visit a very small part of the canals, but the workers there are equipped with thick, heavy rubber suits and in most places are also equipped with masks with breathing filters ("Avka masks").

Despite everything you might think and assume, the tour of the place is surprising and intriguing, accompanied by explanations (in French, of course) and examples of everything found in the sewers. And just to be clear, don't think of the round concrete sewer pipes you know in Israel; the canals here are more reminiscent of the Amsterdam canals, only covered and underground.

Want to visit the sewers of Paris? Click here.

The Catacombs and the Paris Metro

You can’t talk about underground Paris without mentioning the Paris Catacombs, built inside abandoned quarries. If you want to read about their fascinating history and visit there, I recommend reading the article by Zvi Hazanov and Dr. Orna Lieberman. The Catacombs of Paris: Not Just for Anonymous Necrophiles.

Also, the easiest way to get underground is via the metro, and if you want to read about its history, get useful information and discover a series of stations that are really worth visiting, you should read the The article about the Paris Metro.