Parc Montsouris

Parc Montsouris stands out with its rolling English-style lawns and a large central lake, a landscape that hides a grisly origin. During the late nineteenth century, the park was carved out of land that served as a communal ossuary. Workers digging the foundations unearthed thousands of skeletons from centuries-old Parisian cemeteries. Napoleon the Third ordered the creation of this green space to provide breathing room for the working class in the south of Paris, completely transforming an ancient dumping ground for the city's dead.