Paris city officials have offered residents an unusually creative way to become part of the city’s history. They’ve launched a lottery that gives winners the chance to secure a burial plot in one of the city’s legendary cemeteries — Père-Lachaise, Montmartre or Montparnasse.
These cemeteries are the resting places of world-famous cultural icons, and the necropolises themselves have long been tourist attractions. But to join their ranks of «neighbors,» winners must do more than claim a spot: They must commit to restoring an old, deteriorating tombstone.
Preserves historic monuments
According to the BBC, the idea stems from a practical problem. Paris is running out of burial space — its cemeteries have been overcrowded for more than a century. French regulations require tombstones to be maintained not by the city but by the families of the deceased, leaving many monuments abandoned over time. They can’t simply be removed because the cemeteries are protected heritage sites.
The new project offers a compromise: The city preserves historic monuments, while residents get the rare chance to buy a prestigious plot, priced at €4,000 and subject to mandatory restoration.
Plots next to Piaf and Chopin
There are also more aspirational motivations behind the initiative. Père-Lachaise is the resting place of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Édith Piaf, Marcel Proust and Frédéric Chopin. Montparnasse holds Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Samuel Beckett and Serge Gainsbourg, while Montmartre is home to Émile Zola, Edgar Degas and François Truffaut.
Notably, these graves are not part of the lottery — but their proximity makes the offer all the more coveted.
