The City of Paris has launched an unprecedented lottery for 30 abandoned patrimonial tombs in its historic cemeteries, in exchange for their restoration. This initiative aims to address the saturation of intra-muros cemeteries. Winners can rest near figures like Alexandre Dumas or Michel Delpech.
Paris's historic cemeteries, such as Père-Lachaise, Montparnasse, and Montmartre, hold 634,000 concessions but have been saturated since the early 20th century. This has led to the abandonment of many patrimonial tombs that cannot be destroyed due to their value. To address this, the City of Paris launched a lottery this week for 30 funerary monuments: 10 at Père-Lachaise, 10 at Montparnasse, and 10 at Montmartre.
Among the available tombs, one is near Alexandre Dumas's grave at Montmartre, another a few steps from Sonia Rykiel at Montparnasse, and yet another close to Michel Delpech's at Père-Lachaise. Candidates must first purchase a monument and commit to restoring it identically, then acquire a funerary concession after restoration, within set deadlines. If conditions are not met, the sale is annulled, and the buyer loses their investment.
"In the first 24 hours, we had 1,000 clicks on the candidacy files," said Paul Simondon, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of funerary affairs, to AFP. Applicants must provide quotes from specialized marble companies to assess costs. This mechanism, validated by state services, links the private purchase of the monument to obtaining a public concession, allowing families to anticipate an intra-muros burial.
This test could be expanded, highlighting the ecological interest in reusing funerary monuments, according to Mr. Simondon.