Petit Cimetière du Calvaire, the oldest cemetery in Paris
The Petit Cimetière du Calvaire is attached to the Eglise Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, the former church of the long-gone Abbaye de Montmartre.
Indeed, nothing remains of the abbey, which was demolished during the French Revolution; however, the church was spared as it was converted in barn and bakery to serve the neighbourhood.
The Petit Cimetière du Calvaire was not established until 1688, but it is nonetheless the oldest and smallest cemetery in Paris. Poorly maintained during the Revolution, it nonetheless reopened in 1801, as it was then the only burial ground in the village of Montmartre.
The cemetery was eventually closed in 1831, when the Cimetière Saint-Vincent opened, and today, only families with a burial vault there can still be buried.
The Petit Cimetière du Calvaire is closed to the public and is only accessible on 1st November – All Saints Day and occasionally during European Heritage Days in September.
Its magnificent bronze entrance gate was created in 1980 by the renowned Italian sculptor Tommaso Gismondi.
A tiny cemetery with 65 graves
The Petit Cimetière du Calvaire contains only 85 graves, including a communal vault where soldiers who died in 1814 defending Paris against the Cossacks at the end of the Napoleonic Empire are buried.
Today, only descendants of families with a family vault can be interred there.
Among the notable figures buried there are the renowned sculptor Pigalle and the Duke of Crillon, whose former residence is now one of the most luxurious hotels in Paris, on the Place de la Concorde.
Count Louis-Antoine de Bougainville is buried in the Panthéon, but his heart was placed in an urn and deposited in the family vault.
The admiral, and renowned explorer and botanist, gave his name to a plant species, the bougainvillea, which he brought back from his travels.
A mausoleum surmounted by a statue of a small windmill stands in the middle of the cemetery.
This is the family vault of the Debrays, a line of millers who operated the thirty mills of Abbey of Montmartre from the 14th century until the French Revolution.
Tragically, three of the four Debray brothers perished in 1814 while valiantly defending Montmartre against the Cossack during the Campaign of France in 1814.
The surviving son transformed one of the two spared mills into a lively ballroom that became known as the Moulin de la Galette, because of the delicious rye galettes he served.
Directions: 18th District
Metro: Anvers on Line 2
Coordinates: Lat 48.886817 – Long 2.341808
Discover more on Montmartre
Montmartre Village Place du Tertre – Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre Church – Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre Church – Sacre-Coeur Basilica – Montmartre Abbey Sanctum Martyrium Crypt – Montmartre Cemetery – Saint-Vincent Cemetery – Le Passe-Muraille sculpture – Le Mur des Je t’Aime – Abbesses Art Nouveau Metro station – Moulin Rouge – Bateau Lavoir – Montmartre grape harvest festival
