What You'll Find in This Post
Spooky Facts: Flamel & The Catacombs
- The Legend: Nicolas Flamel was a real 14th-century Parisian who supposedly achieved immortality.
- Oldest House: Flamel’s actual house (built in 1407) still stands at 51 Rue de Montmorency—and it's now a restaurant!
- The Underground: The Paris Catacombs hold the skeletal remains of over 6 million people across 200 miles of tunnels.
- Pop Culture: This real history inspired both Harry Potter and the underground horror film As Above So Below.
Pro Tip: To explore the catacombs legally, tickets cost ~€27, include an audio guide, and must be booked well in advance online. (Note: Closed on Mondays!)
St. Jacques Tower, across from Rue Nicolas Flamel - Photo by Mathieu Stern
Nicolas Flamel: The Man Behind the Legend of the Philosopher's Stone
Along the many cobblestone streets within the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France, lies Rue Nicolas Flamel. Fans of the movie As Above So Below and the Harry Potter franchise have surely heard this name before—but you may not know where the legend of Nicolas Flamel originated.
Rue Nicolas Flamel
Flamel lived in Paris during the 14th and 15th centuries. After his alleged death, he became known for being an alchemist who was believed to have created or discovered the philosopher’s stone, and to have achieved immortality through the stone. The philosopher’s stone is said to be capable of turning base metals, such as mercury, into gold or silver, and can be used for healing/rejuvenation and achieving immortality. The legend behind Nicolas Flamel and the philosopher’s stone has been propagated in many modern movies.
Fun fact: Rue Nicolas Flamel intersects with Rue Pernelle, which was named after his wife.
Rue Nicolas Flamel
As Above So Below
In the horror film As Above So Below, the main character Scarlett is on a hunt for the philosopher’s stone; clues lead her to end up in Paris, where she uses Nicolas Flamel’s tombstone to decipher some of those clues. During his real life, Flamel designed his own tombstone that is currently preserved at the Musée de Cluny in Paris—if you visit, you will see that the tombstone looks nearly identical to the one in the movie!
Located at 51 Rue de Montmorency, not far from Rue Nicolas Flamel, you can find one of Flamel’s houses. It is the oldest stone house in the city, and the ground floor has been turned into a restaurant that you can dine at! His house, shown below, was also featured in a scene in the beginning of the As Above So Below movie.
Scarlett from 'As Above So Below' in front of Nicolas Flamel's house
The Catacombs
Underneath the streets of Paris lie around 200 miles of tunnels, containing the remains of over six million people. Despite the catacombs being so vast, only a small part (about one mile) is actually open to the public. Visiting the catacombs is one of the top things to do in Paris, especially if you have niche interests in legend and history like me!
By the 17th century, cemeteries in Paris were overflowing with corpses. In 1786, one of Paris’s cemeteries, Les Innocents, became flooded due to extensive rainfall, resulting in the walls around it to collapse and corpses to spill out into a surrounding neighborhood. The smell was overwhelming the citizens of Paris; because of this, the city began moving bones and bodies from their cemeteries to the tunnels below, beginning with the corpses in Les Innocents. Bones are stacked from floor to ceiling, some displaying various patterns and are organized by the cemeteries they came from.
It is illegal to explore the catacombs outside the mile that is opened to the public, due to short, narrow, unmarked, and flooded passageways. Despite this, rumors are that it doesn’t stop some locals or determined travelers from going to explore themselves—there are hidden entrances located all around Paris! Some entrances may be in sewers, the metro, or manholes. Groups of people known as Cataphiles know their way in and around the off-limits catacombs; they explore, decorate the walls with graffiti, create maps, clean up areas, hang out, and often have parties.
They will explore for hours, days, or even a week. In 2004, police found a complete movie theater with a cinema screen, seats, projector, film reels, a bar, and a restaurant in an off-limits area of the catacombs, located underneath the Trocadéro area of Paris. On October 31st, there is a special ‘Cata-Halloween’ that takes place in the catacombs, where a few hundred people show up to party in the spookiest location there is! There is a special police force that patrols the catacombs three times a week, looking for Cataphiles to arrest and fine. If you are caught, you may face up to a sixty euro fine.
The sign pictured below reads, “Stop! This is the empire of the dead,” and is located just before you enter the part of the catacombs that contain the bones of Parisians.
The Paris Catacombs
The producers of the movie As Above So Below were able to get permission from the French government to film their movie in the catacombs, mainly in the off-limits areas. If you have seen the movie, I would highly recommend watching some ‘behind the scenes’ on YouTube—it is extremely interesting to see them filming in there! The notes written on the back of Nicolas Flamel’s tombstone in the movie are what lead Scarlett to the Paris catacombs, where deep underground she finds the philosopher’s stone.
The philosopher's stone in Scarlett's hand, once she found it in the catacombs
To explore the catacombs legally, it costs around €27 per person, which includes an audioguide, and you must book a time slot online in advance on their official website. Please note the catacombs are always closed on Mondays. The address is 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri, Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France. It was one of my favorite experiences in Paris, and I would highly recommend it!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Nicolas Flamel and the philosopher’s stone, referred to as the sorcerer’s stone in this movie, make an appearance in the Harry Potter franchise. In the movies, Nicolas Flamel was a wizard and alchemist who created the stone for him and his wife to have eternal life. Flamel was a good friend of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, so when he was asked by Flamel to protect the philosopher’s stone, he agreed.
Because of the stone’s properties of rejuvenation and immortality, it took the interest of Lord Voldemort. In order to regenerate his body, Voldemort, using the body of a professor, went to Hogwarts and attempted to steal the stone. Harry Potter was able to protect the stone and return it to Dumbledore; Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel soon after decided it was best to destroy the stone, despite that meaning Flamel and his wife would soon die. Flamel and his wife had used the Elixir of Life, created from the stone, to live for over six hundred years and were therefore perfectly okay with their time coming to an end.
The philosopher's stone in the ending scene of 'Harry Potter', just after he saved it from Voldemort
Hope you enjoyed this niche little breakdown as much as I enjoyed writing it! 🖤 If you're heading to France and want more travel guides, check out some of my other posts:
