the Travel Enthusiast
- 04 Aug
Famous cemeteries that you should visit BEFORE you die
As morbid as it sounds, cemeteries can be really interesting places to visit. Even if you don’t have an inclination towards the macabre, you can admire cemeteries from an aesthetic point of view. Old cemeteries usually have some interesting monuments, crypts and statues, and they will also have one or two famous or historical figures buried within. And then there are graveyards which are famous because they are purportedly haunted, usually by the spirit of some murderer or other buried within. In any case, a walk through a famous cemetery is worth a couple of hours if you want a bit of peace and quiet, and if you aren’t lucky enough to see a ghost, at least you can boast that you’ve see the grave of someone famous.Père Lachaise, Paris
Père Lachaise is possibly the most famous cemetery in the world. This cemetery is the final resting place of artistic geniuses like Guillaume Apolinnaire, Georges Bizet, Honoré de Balzac, Marcel Proust, Édith Piaf, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. The cemetery was established by Napoleon in 1804, and since then, the crème de la crème of French music, literature and art, as well as a few “outside” geniuses, have been interred here. Père Lachaise is the most visited cemetery in the world, and it’s a must-see if you are going to Paris.La Recoleta, Buenos Aires
This cemetery was built to be famous, seeing as it was designed by French architect Prosper Catelin and remodelled by Italian Juan Antonio Buschiazzo. Many Argentine presidents, scientists and rich people are buried here, the most notable examples being Eva Peron and Raul Alfonsin. There are some beautifully crafted mausoleums and statues in La Recoleta, but sadly many of them have fallen into disrepair.St. Louis #1 Cemetery, New Orleans
This is possibly the most haunting of all the famous cemeteries in the U.D. Veiled into a shroud of southern mystique, St. Louis #1 is an emblematic cemetery which has appeared in several movies (for example Easy Rider and Big Easy). St. Louis #1 is also said to be a place of pilgrimage for those who practice voodoo, because Marie Laveau, the famous voodoo queen of New Orleans is buried here. The cemetery has a distinctive look because the graves are above the ground, which really makes it look like a city of the dead.Josefov Cemetery, Prague
Established in the 1400’s, this cemetery is famous for having hidden depths, literally. The cemetery is adjacent to the neighbourhood of Josefov, which used to be a ghetto where the Jews were segregated from the other inhabitants of the city. There are about 12,000 visible tombstones in the cemetery, but it is though that over 100,000 people are buried here. Because of the lack of space, people were forced to bury their dead in layers (12 in total). Countless Jewish historians, scientists and scholars were buried in this ancient place.
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travel search by Travelgrove (get this widget)Waverley Cemetery, Sydney
Waverley is one of the oldest functioning cemeteries in Australia, established in 1877. Countless beautiful Victorian and Edwardian monuments can be found in here, and many famous Australian personalities are buried in the cemetery. Its layout was inspired by London’s Kensal Green Cemetery and by the Parisian Père Lachaise. On a pop-culture related note, Waverley Cemetery appears in several movies and it is said to be an inspiration for a number of Australian artists.
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Ha ha ha ha….
Very funny title… 😛
However it is not pretty clear for me that the first pic is about Pere Lachaise but I really enjoyed this stuff..
I would also add the Cemetery Farkasreti at Budapest, Hugary. One spending some days at Budapest, especially interested in Hungarian culture should pay a visit – many actors, artists and politicians were buried here since 1894 when the cemetery has opened.
Another interesting fact about it is that during the communism religious funerals were allowed only at Farkasrét Cemetery in Budapest. It is located near the downtown of the city in Buda (the Wester part of Budapest).