Mass graves of plague victims found in Paris

The remains of more than 200 people have been uncovered by construction in Paris.

The site was formerly the cemetery of a hospital that functioned from the 12th to the 17th century but it was believed the corpses had been moved in the 18th century to the Paris Catacombs which house the bones of six million people transferred from the city’s cemeteries 200 years ago.

Archeologists, called in by the Monoprix supermarket to inspect the site before building work was due to be carried out, had expected to find some remains but were astonished to find the large collection of bodies neatly laid out in the earth of the store’s basement.

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Story: Rory Mulholland, The Telegraph | Photo: Denis Gliksman/Inrap