A visit to La Villette Cemetery

Start from Ourcq metro station (line 5). Take exit 1 onto Rue de Lunéville.

(S/E) As you exit the metro station (note a bar on the left with a sign for the carpenters’ guild), go straight ahead and immediately cross Rue Lunéville to the right. Take the next right onto Rue Georges Thill (pedestrianised). Go straight ahead and cross a tree-lined square. At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Petit and you will immediately reach a junction with traffic lights.

(1) Then turn right into Rue Goubet. Walk along the right-hand side of the cemetery’s tiled wall. After a bus stop and before the next set of traffic lights, turn right into the pedestrianised Allée Daruis Milhaud (with a mural on the corner). At the next junction, turn right into Rue d’Hautpoul and you will immediately reach the entrance to La Villette Cemetery.

The route inside the cemetery is a guide only and can be adapted in various ways. In the description below, the names appearing on the graves may be highlighted for three different reasons:
1) Graves of notable figures, in which case a lower-case letter in brackets refers to a short entry in the ‘Places to see’ section, where names are listed in the order they appear on the route.
2) Particularly original monuments.
3) Useful landmarks on the ground.

(2) Enter the cemetery, go round the truncated column at the entrance and proceed along the Main Aisle (incorrectly labelled “Avenue” on the OSM map). At the corner of the Valentin family chapel, turn right onto a path. At the end, turn left. At the corner of a chapel, take the grassy path on the left, leaving the Thibault grave on your right. Shortly afterwards, note a grave on the right decorated with a bas-relief.

Just before another chapel, turn right onto a path. At the end, turn right again onto a grassy path. At the end, take a grassy path to the left. At the corner of the Leroux family grave, turn left onto a path. Note, on the left-hand side, the Camus-Quinard grave, including Émile Camus (a). Then note, in the third row on the right, a headstone decorated with a mountain landscape.

(3) Return to the Main Aisle and follow it to the right. You will reach the grave of Marianne Debreux (b) on the left-hand side. With your back to this grave, take the path opposite, leaving the Ganet grave on your left. Note a headstone decorated with a bas-relief on the right. Continue along the path and, at the end, follow a paved path to the left. Note, on the right-hand side, the grave of Lucien Descaves (c).

At the corner of a grave decorated with a painter’s palette, turn left onto a paved path. Immediately on the right, note two adjacent graves bearing the inscription “Mort pour la France” (Died for France), including the richly ornamented grave of the Martinelli-Dubuisson family. Continue along the path and, at the end, squeeze between two graves to return to the Allée Principale. Follow this to the right and note on the right a grave topped with a cross, that of the Mougeot family, including Juste Mougeot (d). Note on the left the grave of Henri-Pierre Hens (e).

(4) At the junction, turn right onto Chemin d’Hauptoul (grass-covered). At the end, take a paved path on the left. Further on, at the corner of the Bergert-Jeannet grave, turn left onto another paved path. At the next junction, continue along Chemin de l’Est (tarmac). Take the first wide path on the left, after a fountain. Note on the left a grave adorned with a metal bird, then that of Auguste Heng (f). At the first junction, continue straight ahead and rejoin Chemin de l'Hauptoul.

(5) Follow this paved path to the left. At the Ponce family grave, turn right onto a grassy path. First turn left then right onto a grassy track, leaving the Ganchart family grave on your left. When you reach a pink granite grave on the right bearing the inscription "No. 27 – 1914", turn left onto a path. You will arrive at the grave of Jeanne (left) and François Servant (right).

Continue along the path and, before the clearly visible Main Avenue, turn right onto a paved path. Then take the first paved path on the right, leaving the Moineau grave on your left. After the Rohart grave, turn left onto a grassy path. At the T-junction, turn right and, at the corner of a chapel, turn left onto a path lined with chapels. Shortly afterwards, turn left to pass between two graves, each surrounded by a railing; the one on the left bears the name Hussong.

Continue along a paved path and, after two rows of graves, turn right onto another paved path. You will reach the grave of Paul Maurice (i), adorned with his bust. Continue along the path and, at a T-junction, turn left onto a path alternating between grass and paving slabs. Return to the Main Avenue and follow it to the right. Go round the truncated column again and leave the cemetery.

(2) Then follow Rue d’Hautpoul to the right and immediately cross Rue Georges Auric on the left. Cross Rue Petit and continue along Rue d’Hautpoul. At the end, turn right onto Avenue Jean Jaurès and you will soon reach Ourcq metro station (S/E).

Good walking shoes are sufficient for this short urban walk.

Inside the cemetery, there are drinking fountains here and there along the main paths, and toilets on the left just after the entrance. Bars and restaurants in the surrounding neighbourhood.

A detailed map is required (at the very least the one accompanying this description). It is recommended that you obtain the map provided by Paris City Hall, which indicates the locations of the graves of several notable figures.

Opening hours of La Villette Cemetery:
- Opening: weekdays, 8.00 am; Saturdays, 8.30 am; Sundays and public holidays, 9.00 am.
- Closing: from 6 November to 15 March, 5.30 pm; from 16 March to 5 November, 6.00 pm.

Need we remind you that a cemetery is a place of contemplation, and that discreet and respectful behaviour is required?

Walk undertaken by the author on 6 June 2026.

Some facts about the history of La Villette Cemetery:
The cemetery was established in 1828 and expanded in 1843. As this cemetery is relatively close to the former La Villette abattoirs, it contains a few butchers’ graves. Several soldiers who died in action during the 1914–1918 war are buried here. The cemetery also contains the graves of several teenagers who died on 6 February 1973 in the fire at the nearby Collège Édouard Pailleron, an arson attack that claimed a total of 20 lives.

Graves of notable figures (non-exhaustive list):
a - Émile Camus, President of the Butchers’ Union from 1904 to 1916.
b - Marianne Debreux (1960–1973) One of the victims of the fire at the Collège Édouard Pailleron.
c - Lucien Descaves (1861–1949) Journalist and writer, one of the founding members of the Académie Goncourt, of which he was president from 1945 to 1949.
d - Juste Mougeot (1846–1864) A student at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, who died saving a child from drowning.
e - Henri-Pierre Hens (...-1916) Soldier who died during the Battle of Verdun.
f - Auguste Heng (1891–1968) Swiss sculptor.
g - Jeanne Servant (1888–1961) Mother of the Compagnons du Devoir.
h - François Servant (1887–1961) Compagnon carpenter.
i - Paul Maurice (1895–1917) Soldier who died during the Battle of Chemin des Dames.

Sources: Paris City Hall and Wikipedia.