One Bone-Chilling French Cemetery Earns Its Spot On Rick Steves' List Of Offbeat Sites To Check Out

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.

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 site itself is a peaceful oasis of calm, a delight to walk around, and a destination for art lovers. But, the most interesting aspect of Aître Saint-Maclou is its bone-chilling history, and there are plenty of hair-raising secrets to discover. It's worth taking a close look at the eye-catching wooden beams and frames that make up the buildings and galleries of this fascinating spot. There is an array of creepy designs and icons carved into the wood itself, from skulls and skeletons to gravediggers' tools. 

There is also a wonderful example of a "danse macabre," the dance of death, carved into the stone columns around the gallery. This was a classic motif of the period, a showcase of the morbid, doom-laden feeling of the time and a reminder that death comes for everyone and that all levels of society are affected equally. The drawing features common people, nobility, kings, and clergy dancing together with the figure of Death as the dancing master. You can also find carvings representing Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.

A final gruesome exhibit is the skeleton of a cat displayed in a glass case as you first enter Aître Saint-Maclou. This was discovered entombed in a wall during the restoration of the site, and it is thought to have been buried alive during the plague period in an attempt to protect the place from evil.