Picpus Cemetery

Cimetière de Picpus
Cemetery entrance next to chapel Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix
Map
Details
Established13 June 1794
Location
35 rue de Picpus, Paris
Country France
Coordinates48°50′38″N 2°24′00″E / 48.8440°N 2.4001°E / 48.8440; 2.4001
TypePrivate
Size2.1 hectares (5.2 acres)
No. of gravesunknown
No. of interments1,306 (two mass graves)
Find a GraveCimetière de Picpus

Picpus Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Picpus, [pik.pys]) is the largest private cemetery in Paris, France, and is located in the 12th arrondissement. It was created from land seized from the convent of the Chanoinesses de St-Augustin, during the French Revolution. Just minutes away from where the most active guillotine in Paris was set up, it contains 1,306 victims executed between 14 June and 27 July 1794, during the height and final phase of the Reign of Terror.

Picpus Cemetery is one of only two private cemeteries in Paris. Today, only descendants of the 1,306 victims are eligible to be buried at Picpus Cemetery.

The cemetery is of particular interest to American visitors as it also holds the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), over which an American flag always flies.