While Paris, the City of Lights, shines brightly, hidden in its shadows are fascinating installations, put in place nearly two centuries ago: the sewers. Even today, this 2,600-kilometer-long labyrinth of streets and infrastructure ensures the sanitation of the entire capital. In 1854, during Haussmann's grand urban renewal projects in Paris, the French engineer Eugène Belgrand undertook one of the century's largest construction projects: the renovation of the Paris sewers. His main innovation: an ingenious dual network that simultaneously treats wastewater and delivers drinking water to Parisians.
Cinematography
Gorgeous subterranean tunnels that make sewage look cinematic.
Production
Access to restricted 19th-century engineering marvels.
Director
Sarah Laîné
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Victor Hugo's Les Misérables made the Paris sewers famous decades before Belgrand's renovation—Jean Valjean escaped through them in 1862.
The film shows how these tunnels hosted the French Resistance during WWII, proving sewers aren't just for waste—they're for hiding heroes.
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