Known as the ‘City of the Dead’, due to its distinct mausoleums resembling small eerie dwellings, St. Louis Cemetery No.1 is home to some of the city’s most notable deceased residents.

The necropolis dates back to the late 1700’s and includes more than 600 crumbling tombs within its small one block perimeter. The location of the site was originally chosen due to the swampland being low in value, but this led to many problems when carrying out burials below ground. Due to the city mostly sitting 15 feet below sea level, if you dig a few feet down you will hit water causing a casket to pretty much float. It is said that early settlers even tried placing stones on top of coffins to try to keep them underground but as soon as a storm hit or if the area flooded, they would find caskets popping up right out of the ground!

The chaotic labyrinth like layout, with row upon row of stone vaults, make it like no other cemetery I have visited before. It is thought that initial burials may have taken a traditional form and been below ground or in quasi-above ground tombs, but each grave could only hold one burial, so as pressure on the cemetery grew, more above ground tombs were erected on top of the original burial chambers. As the temperatures in these vaults can reach over 150 degrees, they generate a natural cremation process, so when they were opened the remaining bones could be pushed to the back with a long pole, making space for the newly deceased to be interred. The phrase ‘wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole’ has since been cited as originating from this rather gruesome process.

In 1878 thousands of people died of yellow fever and burials had to be performed extremely quickly to avoid prolonged contact with the infected body. Because of this, cases were reported of people being buried alive, even with accounts of screams coming from the graves! To combat this, it became common practice to tie a string to the person’s index finger which connected to a bell so if they did wake up entombed, they could ring for help - some say that’s how the well-known expression ‘saved by the bell’ came to be. At the dead of night workers were assigned to patrol the cemetery listening for the ringing of bells and screams coming from inside the tombs, which is also thought to be how the term ‘graveyard shift’ originated.

When visiting St. Louis Cemetery No.1, the tomb which interested me the most was that of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. Details are sketchy but during the 19th century legend goes that Laveau was the most famous and powerful voodoo practitioner in the city. Many believe her magic still radiates from the grave and have marked X’s over her mausoleum in the hope that she will grant their wishes. (Please note a hefty fine is now in place for any visitors who attempt to write on the grave, so I would not recommend this).

Due to issues with vandalism, you can now only visit this fascinating cemetery by booking an organised tour via the link here.