The Ghosts of Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most visited in the world. It opened in 1804 and covers about 44 hectares. Wikipedia reports over a million people buried there. It holds the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin, Édith Piaf, and the medieval lovers Abélard and Héloïse. Ghost stories cling to the place, but they are folklore and not documented investigations.

The cemetery

The cemetery is named after Père François de la Chaise, confessor to Louis XIV. It was laid out on the edge of the city as part of the Napoleonic reform of Paris burials. Its tombs range from small plots to large mausoleums, and the paths make it as much a park as a burial ground.

Graves with stories attached

Jim Morrison died in Paris on 3 July 1971, aged 27. No autopsy was done, so the cause of death is still disputed. His grave had no official marker at first. A bust placed in 1981 was defaced and then stolen in 1988. Fans visit constantly, and some tell of a figure or music near the grave. These tales are anecdotal and no named, verifiable witness account has been published that we could find.

Oscar Wilde’s tomb is a winged, sphinx-like figure carved by Jacob Epstein and unveiled in 1914. Visitors covered it in lipstick kisses, which damaged the stone, so a glass barrier was built between 2011 and 2014. Stories of a witty presence around it are the kind of thing visitors repeat to one another.

Allan Kardec, born Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, founded Spiritism, a belief in communication with the dead. His book The Spirits’ Book appeared in 1857 and he died in 1869. His tomb at Père Lachaise draws many believers and is one of the most flower-covered in the cemetery.

The Mur des Fédérés marks the place where 147 Communards were executed in 1871 during the suppression of the Paris Commune. Tales of spectral figures against the wall are lore. The wall itself is a political memorial, and the executions are well documented.

Tourist guides also repeat a legend that the mausoleum of the Stroganoff-Demidoff family is cursed. Other online tales say the ghost of the statesman Adolphe Thiers tugs at passers-by. We found these only in blogs and guides, with no primary source.

Explaining the reports

Père Lachaise has everything that tends to produce ghost stories: famous dead, dusk, old stone, and visitors who expect something. The cemetery closes before dark, which limits night accounts. We found no formal investigation, and photographs of orbs or mists are ordinarily dust, moisture or lens effects.

Sources

• Père Lachaise Cemetery (Wikipedia) - opening in 1804, size, notable burials, the 1871 executions
• Oscar Wilde’s tomb (Wikipedia) - Epstein’s sculpture, lipstick damage and the glass barrier
• Jim Morrison (Wikipedia) - death in Paris in 1971 and the history of his grave
• Allan Kardec (Wikipedia) - founder of Spiritism, buried at Père Lachaise
• Paris Paranormal (Sortiraparis) - tourist-guide account of the cemetery’s cursed-tomb legend