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Title: Les dessous de Paris: "Cartes sur table"
Authors: Gilles Thomas
Publisher: Revue XYZ 107 - 108
Year: 2006
Language: French

Description:
PDF of the article by Gilles Thomas:
"Below Paris exist galeries remaining from the old limestone quarries, which date from the beginning of the XIIIth century.
At the end of the XVIIIth century, the General Inspection of the Quarries was created to repair and fortify the city streets, as well as to draw up exact maps of the more than 250 km of mysterious tunnels. That official map has now been created but there also exist other maps made by illegal explorers of the catacombs (named “cataphiles”) in order to move more easily through the underground streets."
Cataphiles - urban explorers impassioned by the Paris underground - have borrowed the official maps made by the surveyors of the General Inspection of the Quarries and created new and far more comprehensive versions that are much more suited to their underground wanderings.
They are so accurate and practical, they’re even said to be used by the authorities!
These maps can be found on the net, free of charge. And today, Urban Explorers come from all over the world to visit “the real Paris catacombs”, from Europe and the U.S., as well as from the farthest reaches, including the ex-Soviet Union and the Australian antipodes! "

Related:
Underground Paris.