France is not short of eccentric and offbeat destinations. The slightly smelly underground sewer museum of Musée des Égouts in Paris is a great example of French dedication to the weird and wonderful. France is home to La Jenny, the only naturist golf course in Europe, while there are few places quite as quirky as the House of Facteur Cheval in Hauterives. But, France’s ossuaries stand out as the most bizarre and macabre places to check out.
The eerie tourist attraction of the Paris Catacombs is probably the best-known example of this slightly gruesome phenomenon, but there’s an even more interesting version in the town of Rouen, according to renowned European travel expert Rick Steves. On the surface, Aître Saint-Maclou looks like just another beautiful, historic half-timbered house, but the intricate skull designs carved into the wooden beams offer a creepy clue as to the hidden reality of this bone-chilling destination.
Aître Saint-Maclou is located across the square from the late Gothic masterpiece Saint-Maclou à Rouen, a gaudy, flamboyant Catholic church in the historic center of Rouen. Rouen sits on the River Seine in northern France, about 2 hours from Paris and just over an hour to the coast and the port towns of Caen or Le Havre. The nearest international airport is Deauville-Saint-Gatien, about an hour away, while ferries arrive to Le Havre from the U.K.
From fever and death to fine arts
14th-century Rouen was not a particularly happy place. The Black Death ravaged the community, killing three-quarters of the inhabitants and leaving the city and region in tatters. Cemeteries were literally overflowing and, even if there had been room, there weren’t enough survivors to bury the dead. As a result, most plague victims were thrown in ossuaries like Aître Saint-Maclou and stacked in rows in cubby holes.
Aître Saint-Maclou had been used as a cemetery for over a thousand years, but the advent of the Black Death expanded its function significantly. New buildings were required to house the abundant remains, and the half-timbered galleries were built throughout the 15th and 16th centuries to cope with continuing waves of plague.
In the mid-17th century, once the desperate need for post-mortem storage had subsided somewhat, the ossuary was converted into a school for poor children, with the construction of new wings and galleries. The site’s final iteration began in 1940 when the young children left, to be replaced with a fine arts school. Today, alongside the macabre carvings, skeletons, and gravestones, there are two art galleries showcasing sculpture and modern art.
The Danse Macabre
