Visit the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris: tickets, prices, schedules

After the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower or the Musée d’Orsay, did you think of visiting the Père-Lachaise cemetery? Here is everything you need to know about this unusual activity!

Visit a cemetery? And why not an administrative detention centre, a prison, a dartery as long as we are there? You're not dreaming! The Cemetery of the Father-Lachaise is a true tourist attraction, a visit to Paris .

Located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, Father-Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris-Intramuros. He is also one of the world’s most famous cemeteries. Many celebrities lie here: they have contributed to his fame. Each year, there are an average of 3.5 million tourists who come to walk through the graveyard. Father-Lachaise is both a place of recollection (on the tombs of famous personalities), a park where to stroll and a historical monument.

Visit the Père-Lachaise cemetery (or Eastern Cemetery) offers an immersion in French culture! It allows for beautiful walks along the walks, full of stele where the great men rest.

The visit tempts you and there's still time? This is our guide to visit the Père-Lachaise cemetery!

History and presentation of the Père-Lachaise cemetery

Francis of Aix de la Chaise (1624-1709), said Father Lachaise, gave his name to this place of burial. He was the confessor priest of Louis XIV.

While the Innocent Cemetery was closed in December 1780 and Paris relocated its cemeteries, Paris began to lack burial sites. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, for whom “ each citizen has the right to be buried regardless of race or religion ", signed an imperial decree on 12 June 1804. This decree accurately determines the location of cemeteries. This is the official birth certificate of the cemeteries of Montmartre, the East, Montparnasse and Passy. At that time, Father-Lachaise is “only” the Cemetery of the East.

The architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart was responsible for the design of the cemetery in 1803. He draws them in the form of a garden in English. The Eastern Cemetery was opened on May 21, 1804. It was initially reserved for the poor and popular categories in eastern Paris. There were only 13 tombs in the first year. In 1815, the cemetery had more than 2,000 remains.

Cemetery for celebrities

pass their death on holiday

The cemetery was also the bloody theatre of the repression after the Commune of Paris in 1871: the Fédérés (anarchists) installed their artillery there, and were taken as a bridge between the Versailla troops of Thiers and the Prussians. 147 survivors of the battle were shot at the foot of the "Federated Wall" on May 28, 1871.

What to do and what to see in the Père-Lachaise cemetery?

• High division (access by the Gambetta Gate)
• Central divisions
• the north-west divisions (access by the Gate of the Amandiers)
• the seventh division (access by the Repos Gate)

Visiting the Père-Lachaise cemetery allows a unique experience. Discover the many hidden secrets about the death or posthumous life of local celebrities' remains. By visiting the Père-Lachaise cemetery, you can pay tribute to many more or less contemporary personalities. Here rest among others

• Honoré de Balzac, Alfred de Musset, Paul Eluard, Marcel Proust, Simone Signoret, Colette, Jules Vallès, Molière
• Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Yves Montand, Alain Bashung, Henri Salvador, Mano Solo
• Claude Chabrol, Pierre Bourdieu, Eugène Delacroix, Pierre Desproges

It is possible to make a guided tour: it spreads over about two hours. The guided tour allows you to discover the scenery of the cemetery. He will tell you about anecdotes, secrets and historical facts with humour and precision. Do you like a missing historical personality? Search his stele freely through the paths lined with trees.

Visiting the Père-Lachaise cemetery is also able to stroll through a ever-changing green space, like a haven of peace in the middle of Paris. The gardens of the Père-Lachaise cemetery have over 5,000 trees. In the end, it is much more than a cemetery: Father-Lachaise is a true open-air museum, sometimes lugubre but often refined and aesthetic. The cemetery changes atmosphere at the pace of the seasons. The place is perfect for photographers!

How do I go to the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris?

To go to Paris, there are several options: the plane, the airports of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly. There are many regular low-cost flights thanks to the comparison Ulysses . By train we will either arrive at Montparnasse Station, Saint-Lazare, Gare de Lyon or Gare du Nord. By bus, we'll take the Ouibus or Flixbus companies. From Paris Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, take the RER B and then change to Gare de Lyon

There are 5 entrances to the Père-Lachaise cemetery:

• The main entrance and the Porte des Amandiers: 8, boulevard Ménilmontant, 75,020 Paris, access by station Philippe Auguste and Père-Lachaise (lines 2 and 3), and stops of lines 61 and 69,
• La Porte du Repos : 16, rue du Repos, access by the metro Father-Lachaise (line 2),
• Gambetta: 71, rue des Rondeaux, access by the Gambetta metro station (line 3) and by bus 26, 60, 61, 69, 102,
• La Porte de la Réunion : Metro Alexandre Dumas (line 2) and bus 76.

Paris has a network of tentacular public transport. The options to go to the Cemetery of the Father-Lachaise are innumerable: they depend mainly on your place of departure. Between the bus, the RER, the metro or the tram, all solutions are possible.

Schedules and rates of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery

Opening hours

• From November to mid-March:
  • Monday to Friday from 8am to 5:30pm,
  • Saturday from 8:30 to 5:30,
  • Sunday and holidays from 9am to 5:30pm,
• From mid-March to October:
  < ♪* Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm,
  • Saturday from 8:30 am to 6 pm,
  • Sunday and public holidays from 9am to 6pm.

The Père-Lachaise Cemetery is also open the following days: January 1st, Ascension, Pentecost and Monday of Pentecost, August 15th, December 25th, Easter and Easter Monday, May 1st, November 1st, May 8th, July 14th and November 11th.

Rates

You can visit the Père-Lachaise cemetery for free, the entrance is free for everyone.

However, guided tours are paid: €26 per adult and €16 for a minor under the age of 18.