Apartment where Jim Morrison died

Jim Morrison died in this apartment on July 3, 1971. He was 27 years old. The official cause of death was heart failure, though no autopsy was performed — a fact that has fuelled decades of speculation. Morrison had moved to Paris in March 1971 with his partner Pamela Courson, hoping to leave the chaos of Los Angeles behind and focus on his poetry.

The apartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis is in the Marais district, on a quiet street in the 4th arrondissement. It's a handsome 17th-century building, typical of the neighbourhood — tall shuttered windows, stone facade, a heavy wooden door. Morrison was found dead in the bathtub by Courson. She died three years later in Los Angeles, also at 27.

The building is private and there is no plaque. The apartment is occupied. Fans still come to stand outside and photograph the entrance, but there is nothing to mark the spot other than the address itself. Occasionally someone leaves flowers or a note taped to the door.

Morrison is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery, about two kilometres east across the Marais. Most visitors combine the two — the apartment where he died and the grave where he rests. The grave is one of the most visited in Paris, drawing more people than the tombs of Chopin, Oscar Wilde, or Edith Piaf in the same cemetery.