Parc Montsouris
Paris · France · Natural site
The giant brigand Isauré was beheaded in the 9th century and buried in this slope. Residents speak of night screams from nothing living.
The park in the fourteenth arrondissement sits on the hill called Montsouris, with the old quarries running beneath it. The street name alongside — rue de la Tombe-Issoire — points to the figure in the legend: Isauré, a giant and highwayman said to have terrorised travellers on the southern road in the 9th century, until Guillaume d'Orange killed him in single combat on the orders of Louis the Pious. He was beheaded and buried in the slope, and it is his ghost that is said to walk. Residents have described blood-curdling screams at night and sounds like a wounded animal coming from the park when it is closed and empty. The legend gained new force when the Palais du Bardo, a copy of a Tunisian palace that stood in the park, was destroyed in an unexplained fire in 1991 — the very spot Isauré was said to haunt.
FAQ
Where is Parc Montsouris located?
Parc Montsouris is in Paris, France.
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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.
Image: Piero d'Houin dit Inocybe · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons