Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Passy Cemetery was established in 1802 to replace a former cemetery in Passy commune, which was deemed unsanitary, located at the current location of Lekain Street. The land, offered by Mr. Bonneau, was near Boulevard de Longchamp, then on the edge of the Wall of the General Farmers. Initially covering less than 9 ares, it was enlarged several times (1826, 1833, 1846, 1854) to reach 180 ares, before being reduced to 174 ares in 1860 during the drilling of Avenue de l'Empereur (now Avenue Georges-Mandel). That same year Passy's annexation by Paris placed the cemetery under the jurisdiction of the capital.

From 1874 onwards, Passy's cemetery became the "aristocratic necropolis" of Paris, attracting elites thanks to its proximity to the chic residential districts of the right bank, near the Champs-Élysées. The concessions were then granted in perpetuity or per 100 years. Between 1931 and 1936, a monumental entrance in Art Deco style, designed by René-Félix Berger, was erected on Rue du Commander-Schloesing (former Rue des Reservoirs). In 1953, a diluvian rain caused the collapse of a wall, replaced in 1956 by the Monument to the Glory of the French Army, sculpture by Paul Landowski commemorating the First World War.

Today, the cemetery extends over 1.74 hectares, bordered by Avenue Georges-Mandel, Place du Trocadéro, Avenue Paul-Doumer and Rue du Commander Schloesing. It has 2,500 graves, shaded by 290 trees of 15 species, and is dominated by the funeral chapel of Marie Bashkirtseff. Administratively attached to the Montparnasse cemetery, it closes in case of weather. The site inspired works such as A Love Page by Émile Zola (1878) and served as a setting for Louis Garrel's film "The Faithful Man" (2018).

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