Taking a break from our Carnival revelries, Megan and I made our way to the historic St. Louis Cemetery #1. New Orleans oldest and most famous cemetery, Saint Louis Cemetery #1 opened in 1789. Most of the tombs there are from the eighteen and nineteenth centuries. While it only covers one square block at the edge of the French Quarter, once inside it feels like you’re in a labyrinthine city of the dead. Needless to say I felt right at home.

Considering the small area, you may be amazed to learn that the cemetery holds the remains of more than 100,000 people. Due to high-water tables pushing buried corpses up out the ground, the cemetery is designed with above ground crypts. Each crypt has shelves where newly deceased bodies are placed. After the body decays and only bones remain, the skeleton is pushed off the shelf into a central pit where it mixes with other bones. The decomposition process continues until only dust remains. Meanwhile, a new body can be placed on the shelf. It’s an efficient use of burial space.

The most famous resident of Saint Louis Cemetery #1 is the deceased voodoo priestess Marie Laveau. Born free from the union of a white planter and his Creole mistress, Marie gained access to the wealthiest inhabitants of the city with her reputation for having powerful magic. People continue to visit Marie’s tomb (in photo directly above) with tributes and to perform voodoo rituals. The xxx’s decorating the outside are made in hopes that Marie will grant a wish.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Other Destinations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.