New Orleans is one of those rare cities that's just as famous for its burial grounds as it is for its living traditions.
So when our early morning swamp tour got postponed for a couple of hours last weekend, I didn't go back to bed. I went to the graveyard.
Taking a guided tour is the only way to visit Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, one of 13 Catholic cemeteries in NOLA. That's how they keep out the vandals. (Cemetery No. 2 has become too far gone from vandalism and is now completely closed to the public, no tours allowed.)
Established in 1789, No. 1 is the oldest existing one in New Orleans. But of course that means there are some that are no longer extant—some of which were exhumed and relocated, and others of which were just built on top of.
By and large, the cemeteries of New Orleans contain above-ground interments, all crammed together in a crowded necropolis. That's because the water table is so high, below-ground burials would get sloshy.
There are also lots of more bodies buried there than the crypts that you can see...
...since a common practice has been to let bodies decompose somewhat naturally (with just enough embalming fluid to get them through the funeral services) and then sweep the bones into a pit (or ossuary).
This New Orleans cemetery represents centuries of the dead, from European colonists and free people of color to yellow fever victims, World War I and II veterans...
...and Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in the landmark Plessy vs. Ferguson case, whose Supreme Court ruling led to "separate but equal" segregation.
One of the more famous crypts in the cemetery is the pyramid purchased by actor Nicolas Cage, who's still very much alive—but that doesn't mean there aren't any dead bodies there. A new pyramid was built on top of two brick crypts that had crumbled down into practically nothing.
Cage had also purchased some real estate properties in the Crescent City, which he had to sell when he got into financial trouble. But there's a law in Louisiana that exempts burial plots from seizure—so he got to keep it. And because it's designated with "Perpetual Care," the cemetery takes care of its upkeep.
Some other plots aren't quite so fortunate.
Cemetery No. 1 is particularly known for its funerary architecture...
...including the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society tomb, where the acid trip scene in Easy Rider took place (and where Peter Fonda broke the arm off the statue, prompting a ban on filming in the cemetery).
Some of the crypts have taken an event bigger hit—and practically have trees growing up through them.
Most of them are made of brick and then covered in stucco to protect them.
Other burial sites are shielded by locked wrought iron gates...
...which might keep the living vandals out, but will they keep the spirits in?
On some of the monuments, the engraved plaques have fallen (or been pulled) off, leaving behind what looks like a little door.
Although the cemetery is run and maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans...
...there's actually a small Protestant section in the back, recognizable by the dug-out, brick-lined gravesites that didn't last very long.
There's also the final resting place for the infamous Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau—a devout Catholic who was interred in a Greek Revival-style tomb.
Visitors come and deface the tomb by marking it with three Xs and making a request. If their wish is granted, they come back and leave an offering (though it's not officially allowed)—often hair ties, barrettes, and other hair clips because Laveau was a beloved hairdresser for her community.
Cemetery No. 1 is considered the most haunted cemetery in New Orleans—and one of the most haunted places in all of The Big Easy. But it's kind of oversimplifying things to think the ghosts are just hanging out at the graveyard.
Personally I felt a lot of energy—much of it negative—throughout my stay in New Orleans, which was mostly centered in the French Quarter. I don't know if it was the presence of former slave trading markets or gallows or Hurricane Katrina disaster sites or what, but I was definitely getting bad vibes pretty much wherever I went.
Then again, I'm a pretty sensitive person. I might be detecting things other people might never notice.
But I will note that I didn't experience one ghost (or apparition, or spirit, or whatever) while I was in town.
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I have always been fascinated by the Cemeterys in New Orleans. My husband was on a work trip there and I went and toured a cemetery. Don't remember which one. This was before the big mall on the river was built. So maybe 30 years ago.
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