It is also an easy walk from Pere-Lachaise From Country
Formally called cemetery of the church of Saint-Germain de Charonne, Charonne Cemetery is one of only two churchyard cemeteries left within the bounds of city’ 20 arrondisements (Calvaire Cemetery near the Sacre-Creur Basilica in Montmartre is the other). The one-acre cemetery falls under the heading of a God’s acre, which is what churchyard cemeteries were called. Although Charonne was established in 1791, God’s acre cemeteries have a long, rich history dating back to the beginnings of formal churches. Certain church officials and the elite (well moneyed) could buy their way into being buried within the walls and floors of churches, but everyone else was buried in God’s acres outside the walls of the church. However, during the Reformation, when there was a slowdown in church construction and a subsequent ban on burials within the walls of churches, God’s Acres became burial grounds for the elite as well as the rest of the populace. Many of the churchyards in city were closed at the end of the eighteenth century and the bones moved to the Catacombs. However, many God’s acres can be still be found in rural and urban France as well as throughout the rest of Europe and the Americas.
Despite its limited size, Charonne has two entrances, one off of Chemin du Parc de Charonne and one next to the church off of rue de Bagnolet. There is a small conservation office with a bathroom The tidy cemetery has a number of benches that offer a pleasant respite from the busy city streets, and there are a few monuments worth a look. The Fortin monument hugging the perimeter wall features a bonneted young woman holding a bouquet of flowers. There is almost always a fresh flower or two wedged in with the granite ones. The most obvious monument in Charonne Cemetery belongs to Francois Begue.
