A place travelers can visit Saint Louis Cemetery

Reviews: Saint Louis Cemetery

General description: Saint Louis Cemetery

Saint Louis Cemetery is a collection of three Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans from the 18th and 19th centuries.
 
Buried above ground
The cemeteries are special in that the dead were buried above ground so all the tombs are on view. The reason for this is not clear. Some believe it has to do with the fact that New Orleans has very wet soil. People believed that burying the dead could lead to epidemics through contamination of the ground water. Others say the tradition of burying people above ground had nothing to do with the water tables and rather to do with French and Spanish traditions of that time. Either way it makes for a fascinating visit through a city of the dead.

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• For more information on research done in the cemeteries see: http://cml.upenn.edu/nola
  

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