Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
The idea of opening a coffin containing victims of the French Reign of Terror immediately raises a difficult question. The truth is that there is no single coffin holding the remains of the approximately 17,000 people who were officially executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror between 1793 and 1794. Instead, thousands of victims were buried hurriedly in mass graves across France, particularly in Paris, where the executions were carried out on an almost daily basis. Many of these burial sites still exist beneath modern streets, parks, and cemeteries. While some have been rediscovered, the majority have remained untouched for more than two centuries.
The idea of opening a coffin containing victims of the French Reign of Terror immediately raises a difficult question. The truth is that there is no single coffin holding the remains of the approximately 17,000 people who were officially executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror between 1793 and 1794. Instead, thousands of victims were buried hurriedly in mass graves across France, particularly in Paris, where the executions were carried out on an almost daily basis. Many of these burial sites still exist beneath modern streets, parks, and cemeteries. While some have been rediscovered, the majority have remained untouched for more than two centuries.
