Père Lachaise Cemetery opens in Paris (1804)

Background. After the closing of the Holy Innocents' Cemetery on 1 December 1780, and as the city graveyards of Paris filled, several new, large cemeteries outside the precincts of the capital replaced them: Montmartre in the north, Père Lachaise in the east, Montparnasse in the south, and Passy in the west. Père Lachaise lies in the 20th arrondissement.

Establishment. The property was bought by the city in 1804. It was established as a cemetery by Napoleon during that year. The site was named after Père François de la Chaise, a confessor to Louis XIV who lived in a Jesuit house on the location. The land had historical significance as a hillside where the king watched skirmishing during the Fronde.

Design. Plans for the cemetery were laid out by neoclassical architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart. In 1803, officials approved the transformation of 17 hectares of Mont-Louis into the Cemetery of the East. Brongniart envisioned an outstanding pyramid at the site of the former house of Père Lachaise, intended for use by all Christian denominations.

Early Operations. In 1804, the Père Lachaise contained only 13 graves. An 1804 law put in place by Napoleon addressed the question of cemetery organisation relating to religious beliefs: it was required that an entire cemetery be built, or at least a section of a large cemetery dedicated to a specific religion, and the law allowed the sharing of cemeteries between diverse religions.