By Tom Dare
CREEPY FOOTAGE showing an urban explorer clambering over piles of human remains as he explores the Paris catacombs has emerged ahead of Halloween tomorrow.
The spin-chilling video, taken by social media influencer Steve Ronin during a visit to Paris, shows Steve and his friends climbing through narrow openings and pitch-black halls as they make their way through the estimated 200-miles of tunnels underneath the streets of Paris.
Further footage shows Steve exploring the different rooms built into the catacombs, one of which is the cemetery where he finds a huge tower of human bones rising up towards the streets above.
Preparations for the Paris catacombs began in 1774, as a way of storing the ever-growing number of human remains the city was responsible for. Cemeteries in the city had reached breaking point, with many bursting their walls and spilling over into nearby properties, and so a solution was necessary.
The city decided to use some of the tunnels which already existed underneath the city, originally used as stone mines during the early days of Paris’ growth as a city. In 1786 remains began to be transported to the catacombs, and today it is estimated that the bones of more than six million people lie in the catacombs.
Steve, 23, from Boston, Massachusetts, began urban exploring a few years ago, and documents his adventures on his YouTube page, Exploring with Steve.
And he says the Paris catacombs was also on his to-do list.
“Exploring the craziest places in the world has always been my goal,” he said.
“The Paris catacombs has been on my list for a long time, but I didn’t want to explore a normal tour where it’s pretty much renovated and maintained. I wanted to explore the real Paris Catacombs.
“The catacombs are very different to anywhere else I’ve explored before. It’s a huge labyrinth with so much history.
“It also takes a lot out of you, and exploring the entire place would take seven hours. We pretty much explored all the rooms, though, so I didn’t miss any opportunities.
“It’s a huge adrenaline rush, like going inside another world.”
So, what was the scariest part for Steve?
“The creepiest part was seeing hundreds of human bones,” he said.
“People always feel claustrophobic whenever they watch the video, but I hope everyone gets out there and does something like this. I hope my adventures inspire you to just get out there.”
You can see more of Steve’s videos on his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/sunsteprising and on his Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/steveronin/
