City of myths: 5 legends about Paris
The capital of France knows many names. For lovebirds it is the city of love, for others a culinary kingdom and still others feel Paris is the center of art and culture. But Paris is also known for numerous legends and is an exciting place for all those who like to listen to historical and mythical stories. But what kind of stories are they? Read on to learn more about the five most extraordinary, popular and exciting legends of the city.
The Phantom of the Opera
You've probably heard of the famous novel written by Gaston Leroux based on an eerie legend that supposedly took place in the middle of Paris. Maybe you have seen the musical by Andrew Llyod Webber – the story of the Phantom of the Opera is cult and belongs to Paris like the croissant or the Louvre. Behind it is the following myth: in a fire in the Academy of Music a pianist was seriously injured and terribly disfigured, he also lost his lover. As the legend says, the injured man fled under the not yet finished Opera Garnier and lived there from now on in the cellar. As a result, strange accidents happened at the opera, such as a death from a falling chandelier or the fatal fall of a dancer.
Even today there are special guided tours of the Opera, which tell about the myth and reveal other secrets of the place.
The catacombs of Paris
A spooky place is the city's catacombs, part of which is now open to tourists.
In the 18./19. In the nineteenth century the city was struck by an epidemic; spatial and hygienic problems arose in where to put the many mortal remains of the sick – the cemeteries were already overcrowded. Nearly six million human skeletons and bones were moved to what would later become the Catacombs to provide space. Since then, these cellars under the city have become a mysterious place for hauntings and horrors. Legends about rituals and uncanny encounters made the rounds.
Today a guided tour is available to visit this mysterious place.
A brothel in the palace?
The current building of the Council of State is the Palais Royal. But the venerable building was not always a place of administration and government service. After Louis XIV., the Sun King, made Versailles the political center and moved out of the Palais, the Orleans family lived there. But at some point the palace is said to have developed into an establishment of a completely different kind, namely an exclusive whorehouse. Even the police are said to have had no access there, so that entertainment could unfold freely and without restraint. Napoleon is said to have been one of the guests and to have experienced his "first time" there.
A pyramid of the devil?
The glass pyramid of the Louvre, built in the late 1980s, has long been an object of numerous theories and mystical conspiracies. Also in novels, especially in the popular work "Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, the myth is taken up that the glass pyramid is a work of Satan, because it allegedly consists of 666 individual glass windows. The conspiracy, however, could not be maintained at some point, when one once counted exactly. But it is still fun to deal with these uncanny theories.
Legends gathered in the Manoir de Paris
In the "Manoir de Paris", an adventure horror show in a listed building, a live show awaits you that is worth seeing. Here you can experience all the well-known and dark legends of the city at once, retold with actors and many interactive elements. If you want to hear more about the mysterious case of a disappeared doorman, a horrible, murderous hairdresser or a creepy witch, you've come to the right place. After that, no one can fool you about the mythical legends of this city.