Paris cemetery holds lottery for space near Jim Morrison and Chopin

Paris Cemetery Offers Burial Lots Near Famous Figures

The Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris is renowned as the final resting place of some of history and pop culture's most famous personalities, including Jim Morrison of The Doors, writer Oscar Wilde, Marcel Marceau, and composer Frédéric Chopin.

Opportunity to Rest Among Icons

The organization managing Pere Lachaise now offers people a chance to own burial plots there or in other historic Parisian cemeteries such as Montparnasse, where Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Chirac are buried, and Montmartre, which holds impressionist painter Edgar Degas and Charles-Henri Sanson, the executioner of Louis XVI.

Restoration and Purchase Conditions

Thirty gravestones in poor condition across these cemeteries are available for purchase at €4,000 (about $4,500). Buyers are required to restore the monuments they acquire and then purchase the burial plot adjacent to the restored stone.

Lottery Due to High Demand

Because of strong interest, the authorities will conduct the sales through a lottery, with the drawing planned for January.

Paris city officials explained this arrangement: “Offering eternal rest next to the stars is a compromise that respects the dead and allows residents to be buried within the city, where space for graves is extremely limited.”

Many are eager for the chance to lie beside celebrated figures, demonstrating society’s enduring fascination with proximity to fame, even in death.

Author’s summary: Paris cemeteries are selling neglected historic graves through a lottery to meet demand for burial spots near famous personalities while preserving cultural monuments.

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Quartz Quartz — 2025-11-06

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