Beautiful Cemeteries! Beautiful Graveyards!

[Kazimiera]

20 Cemeteries You Need to Visit Before You Die

Sure, Halloween is tomorrow, but autumn is just generally the best time of year to walk through a beautiful cemetery and appreciate not only the serenity, but also the landscape, intricate tombstones, and sometimes even the final resting places of famous historical figures. Some people find them creepy, while others purposely seek out graveyards when they go out of town. For those of the latter persuasion, here are 20 cemeteries you absolutely must visit — before you, well, end up in one yourself.


St. Louis No. 1, New Orleans, Louisiana

Everyone who visits the Crescent City quickly realizes that it is a place with an energy and culture all its own, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that this, the oldest of its three Roman Catholic cemeteries, is an above-ground burial site that has been one of the city’s most notable landmarks since 1789.




Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

The most beautiful place in all of Brooklyn, Green-Wood was founded in 1838, and, in a very New York sort of way, is some truly desirable real estate — even if its inhabitants can’t enjoy it. The cemetery includes the highest spot in the city, Battle Hill, with its view of the Statue of Liberty in the distance, and such famous residents as William “Bill The Butcher” Poole, Henry Ward Beecher, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein, and plenty of Civil War soldiers.




Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois

The Windy City’s most famous cemetery boasts some of the best-looking and creepiest tombstones in the United States, including the Getty Tomb for Cary Eliza Getty, which was designed by Louis Sullivan (who is also buried on the grounds), and a life-size statue of a six-year-old girl who was killed by lightning while picnicking with her family.




Père-Lachaise, Paris, France

The most well-known cemetery in one of the world’s most famous cities, everybody from Marcel Proust to Frédéric Chopin rests here, and that’s why tourists flock here year after year.




Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

The oldest cemetery in Atlanta is home to six Georgia governors and Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchel, and is just as mysterious and beautiful as you’d expect a graveyard in one of the South’s greatest cities to be.




La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This gorgeous Argentinean cemetery has been around since the mid-1700s. Its weathered graves feature an incredible mix of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Neo-Gothic styles.




Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

This serene and historic New England cemetery is about as quaint as it gets, and a perfect place to read the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who’s buried there.




Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, Mexico

Even if you don’t happen to find yourself in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, the cemeteries in this city are all worth trying to see at least once in your life.




Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California

You can honor our country’s fallen soldiers by taking a trip to Arlington Cemetery, but this graveyard overlooking the bay is a particularly scenic resting place for heroes from several American wars.




Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, California

The iconic Hollywood cemetery that is home to silver screen legends like Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks is (for lack of a better term) about as dead-Hollywood as it gets.




Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic

With its oldest tombstone dating back to 1439, the Old Jewish Cemetery is a historic landmark. But sorry, tourists, it’s not where you’ll find Franz Kafka’s grave — that’s actually at the New Jewish Cemetery. Sorry for the confusion




Key West Cemetery, Key West, Florida

Learn about the history of the region by walking among the estimated 100,000 grave sites in this supposedly haunted cemetery on the highest point in Key West. Soldiers, slaves, Cuban freedom fighters, and thousands of other souls tell a tale of Florida that you can’t read in history books.




The Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York

The outer boroughs of New York are full of gems, but this Bronx cemetery boasts a number of famous figures, from Herman Melville to Duke Ellington and Joseph Pulitzer.




Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia

Located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, this Savannah cemetery is the epitome of Southern Gothic, and was made famous in John Berendt’s 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.




Merry Cemetery, Sapanta, Romania

Almost as much an open-air art museum as it is a burial ground, this Romanian cemetery might be the cheeriest graveyard you’ll ever encounter.




Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia

The fact that it houses the graves of so many of your favorite long-dead Russians, from director Sergei Eisenstein to Dead Souls author Nikolai Gogol to Anton Chekhov, makes this an obligatory stop in Moscow, even for people who aren’t normally wild about cemeteries.




Waverley Cemetery, Sydney, Australia

Not to sound morbid, but if you have to pick a final resting place, it’s tough to beat a seaside burial in this beautiful Australian cemetery that was established in 1877.




Cementerio General de Santiago, Chile

With an estimated two million grave sites, this cemetery is home to several of Chile’s former presidents, and is worth multiple stops to try and see as many of the different headstones and markers as possible.




Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

If you find yourself doing a tour of East Coast cemeteries, you’ll be remiss to pass up this cemetery filled with former politicians and monuments that should be appreciated as great works of art.




Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts

It’s hard to believe this burial ground, founded in 1660, is only the third oldest in the city of Boston — especially because it contains the graves of founding fathers Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams.




Source: http://flavorwire.com/422650/20-ceme...ore-you-die/1/

[Loki]

You have weird tastes

[Kazimiera]

Most HAUNTING AND FAMOUS CEMETERIES in the World

Halloween, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day -- from October 31st to November 2nd, much of the Western world celebrates the spirits and the dead. But on all other days of the year, the dearly departed are remembered in cemeteries all over the globe. Many of those are quite famous and popular tourist attractions. These are the ones you must visit:


PERE-LACHAISE CEMETERY, Paris

Perhaps the most visited cemetery in the world, this one is home to the graves of famous names like Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. It was the model for many cemeteries around the world, filled with trees, marble, and a sea of gravestones. The place is so big, visitors need a map, and there are also guided tours




LA RECOLETA, Buenos Aires

Eva Peron's resting place draws countless visitors, but the cemetery itself is a monumental sight. There are giant marble statues and beautifully carved mausoleums, holding the remains of Argentina's most prestigious personalities. You may visit it during a walking tour




ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Washington DC

More than a cemetery, this is a memorial to American patriotism: over 360,000 American veterans rest in peace at this famous burial site. Covered with headstones, this cemetery is a lesson in American history, with most visitors heading straight to John F. Kennedy's grave. Not to be missed is the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every thirty minutes in the spring and summer, and every hour on the hour from October to March.




ZENTRALFRIEDHOF, Vienna

Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss, and several other famous names are interred in Vienna's largest and most famous cemetery. In the center is a monumental church, and although this is a mostly Catholic cemetery, there are also Protestant, Russian Orthodox, and Jewish sections.




SÃO JOÃO BATISTA CEMETERY, Rio de Janeiro

Carmen Miranda, Antonio Carlos Jobim (composer of "The Girl from Ipanema"), and aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont were laid to rest in this cemetery owned and operated by a Catholic charity founded by the Portuguese during colonial times. It is a place filled with tombs and mausoleums, and due to its famous personalities, it is known as "the cemetery of the stars."




HIGHGATE CEMETERY, London

Karl Marx is just one of the names found on the many stones of this cemetery, but it is mostly known as a filming location for horror movies, including "Taste the Blood of Dracula" and "From Beyond the Grave." A tour takes visitors past decaying tombstones and shrubbery for one of London's spookiest experiences.




PRAZERES CEMETERY, Lisbon

Many tourists end up visiting this cemetery because they discover it by accident. It is found at the end of the line of the popular "tourist tram" 28, and its monumental tombs draw attention (a huge pyramidal mausoleum belonging to Duke of Palmela is the largest in Europe). It has a strange name for a cemetery ("Pleasures"), but that's the name of the neighborhood where it's located. Found on a hilltop, it has some great views of the city's landmark 25 de Abril Bridge. The city's most famous grave, however, is found in the English Cemetery not very far away. That's the tomb of Henry Fielding, author of "Tom Jones," who died in Lisbon.




OLD JEWISH CEMETERY, Prague

Unlike many other famous cemeteries, this one does not have the graves of well-known personalities. Instead, it is the 15th century burial ground of 12,000 Jewish souls. It's one of Europe's most haunting sites, covered in old gravestones.




GREYFRIARS KIRKYARD, Edinburgh

This graveyard next to a church in central Edinburgh is reputedly haunted. That may stem from the eerie feeling visitors get when they see the thousands of 17th-century graves with carvings of skeletons and when they know that this is also the site of a 17th century prison. A number of paranormal sightings were reported here in the 1990s but it is now a tourist attraction.




CITY OF THE DEAD, Cairo

Cairo's City of the Dead is also the city of the living. Known simply as "al Qarafa" ("the cemetery"), it seems to have as many dead as living residents, as it is also home to the city's poorest population. The site has been a burial ground for over a millennium, but with homes and shops built next to mausoleums and gravestones. Local authorities don't like seeing it promoted as a tourist attraction, so while you won't be able to go in a large group on a bus tour, you can see it by yourself before this singular neighborhood becomes a thing of the past.




Source: http://www.ucityguides.com/cities/10...emeteries.html

[Kazimiera]

Père-Lachaise — Paris, France




Merry Cemetery — Sapanta, Romania




St. Louis No. 1 — New Orleans, La.




La Recoleta Cemetery — Buenos Aires, Argentina




Xoxocotlan — Oaxaca, Mexico




Old Jewish Cemetery — Prague, Czech Republic




Lone Fir Cemetery — Portland, Ore.




Green-Wood Cemetery—Brooklyn, N.Y.




Highgate Cemetery — London, England




Cemeterio General — Santiago, Chile




Bonaventure — Savannah, Ga.




Punta Arenas Cemetery — Punta Arenas, Chile




Novodevichy Cemetery — Moscow, Russia




Woodlawn Cemetery — Bronx, N.Y.




Waverley Cemetery — Sydney, Australia




Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/dr...ound-the-world

[Kazimiera]

[Kazimiera]

[curupira]

Heiliger Sand, a very old Jewish cemetery, from Worms, one of the centers from where Ashkenazi culture and population would arise. The Ashkenazi masses from Eastern Europe likely share ancestry with those buried there. It is considered the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe (apart from Jewish burials in Roman catacombs).

The grave of Jacob ha-Bachur, from 1076/1077:



The grave of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (d 1293):



The grave of Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin (c. 1365 – September 14, 1427), the Maharil:



Other pics:







http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiliger_Sand

There are no records revealing the ‘foundation’ of the Jewish cemetery. The oldest surviving gravestone is that of one Jacob Bahur of 1076, making the ‘Holy Sands’ the oldest existing Jewish cemetery of Europe. There are several other 11th-century gravestones, readily discernible by their simple, rectangular shape, the ruled lines within and the borders around the text. The many stones from the 12th century look similar, but have no lines or borders.

The cemetery may have been established in the time when the first synagogue was built in 1034. However, the importance of the ‘Holy Sands’ not only lies in its old age, but also in the numerous Jewish scholars that are buried here. Since there are no more Christian cemeteries with upright gravestones from the Romanesque period, the Jewish cemetery is also unique in the general cultural history of cemeteries. Only a small number of grave slabs and sarcophagus tops have been kept in churches.

Situated close to the entrance, the gravestones of Meïr of Rothenburg (d 1293) and Alexander ben Solomon Wimpfen (d 1307) are among the most significant sepulchral monuments of the cemetery and are a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world. Some other important gravestones can be found in and around the so-called Valley of the Rabbis, among others those of Rabbi Nathan ben Isaac (d 1333), Rabbi Jacob ben Moses haLevi, called MaHaRIL (d 1427), Rabbi Meïr ben Isaac (d 1511) and Elia Loanz, called Baal Shem (b 1636).

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiliger_Sand

[simple]

La Loma Catholic Cemetery in Manila, Philippines
Built: 1884

The oldest cemetery in Manila still in use today, it was originally called Cementerio de Binondo. It was later renamed Campo Santo de La Loma, or "cemetery on the hill" in Spanish. La Loma was exclusive to Catholics during the Spanish occupation. People who opposed Spanish rule were also denied burial here.

[simple]

Manila Chinese Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Built: late 1880s

Filipino Chinese were not allowed to be buried in Catholic burial grounds like La Loma during the Spanish period, thus the creation of a cemetery for the Chinese.









It looks like a Village

[simple]

Manila North Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Built: late 1880s to early 1890s

The largest cemetery in Metro Manila measuring 54 hectares, the Manila North Cemetery was built because La Loma was exclusive to Catholics and Filipinos loyal to the Spanish.