Paris cemetery holds lottery for space near Jim Morrison and Chopin
People are strange when it comes to their obsession with fame, but one Parisian cemetery is hoping the most devoted fans will be willing to pay handsomely to be buried near their idols.
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the final resting place of some of the biggest names in history and pop culture, including Jim Morrison of The Doors, writer Oscar Wilde, Marcel Marceau and Frédéric Chopin. Now, the organization that oversees this cemetery is offering people the chance to have their own plot there — or other historic French cemeteries, including Montparnasse (which counts Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Chirac among its residents) and Montmartre (home to the remains of impressionist painter Edgar Degas and Charles-Henri Sanson, the royal executioner who executed Louis XVI).
Thirty tombstones in the cemeteries are in poor condition and can be purchased for €4,000 (about $4,500). Whoever buys them, however, must restore the monuments and then purchase the burial plot next to the headstone they are restoring.
Due to the massive demand, authorities are considering organizing the sale like a lottery. The draw will take place in January.
Providing eternal rest next to the stars is a compromise, Paris city officials say, that respects the dead and allows residents to be buried in the city, where there is very little room left for graves.
Families are responsible for maintaining headstones and monuments in Paris, but some graves have been abandoned over time, causing the headstone to collapse.
To be clear, none of the headstones for sale belong to one of the cemetery’s most famous residents, so you may not be shoulder to shoulder with Jim Morrison, but you could be adjacent.
And, at the moment, applications for these purchases are only open to people residing in Paris – and they will only have six months to restore the headstone and a limited time thereafter to purchase the land.
Burial plots are sold either in perpetuity (€17,668/$20,294) or can be leased for 10, 30 or 50 years, at prices ranging from $1,120 to over $6,000.
