A 200-year-old canal lay tucked away in the heart of Paris and hidden beneath layers of grime. Its murky depths had remained untouched for decades. The city finally decided to dredge its waters, hoping to uncover the mysteries below.

What stories would emerge from the darkness? Could there be treasures long forgotten or something far more unsettling waiting to be unearthed? As the water slowly drained on that fateful day, the canal revealed secrets that stunned Parisians and the rest of the world. That good-intentioned cleanup would reveal an eerie chapter of the city’s past that had remained buried for centuries.

Napoleon’s Lifeline for Paris

In the early 1800s, Paris struggled with a serious problem: getting enough fresh water to keep up with its booming population. To fix this, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the construction of the Canal Saint-Martin in 1802. He planned to provide water and boost the economy by making it easier to move goods.

After 23 years of detailed planning and hard work, the canal was finally completed in 1825, stretching 2.8 miles and linking the River Seine to the Canal de l’Ourcq. Unfortunately, Napoleon didn’t live long enough to see how the canal solved the water crisis while helping businesses transport grain and other supplies smoothly through the city.

Diving into Paris’s Past