CITIES OF THE DEAD

When ever I travel whether on business or vacations. I love to check out the local cemeteries. It drives my wife nuts, because that is the last thing she wants to see. I especially enjoy grave yards with historical significance.
By far the best and creepiest of grave yards I have seen are those found in New Orleans.



The above-ground tombs in the cemeteries of New Orleans are often referred to as "cities of the dead." Enter their gates and you will be greeted by decorative, rusty ironwork, and blinded by the sun bleached tombs. Crosses and statues on tomb tops cast contrasting shadows adding a sense of mystery. Votive candles line tombs on holidays to remind you the Dead have living relatives that still care.
New Orleans has always respected the dead, but this isn't the reason the tombs of our departed loved ones are interred above ground. Early settlers in the area struggled with different methods to bury the dead. Burial plots are shallow in New Orleans because the water table is high. Dig a few feet down, and the grave becomes soggy, filling with water. The casket will literally float. And so they began the custom burying in above ground tombs. Wealthier families of course have the more ornate looking tombs, with iron rails, statues and other adornments. Crowded so close together they look like row houses in a small city. And so they began to be known as "Cities of the dead"
The families that own the tombs have buried generations in the same location. City ordinance requires that the previous relative must have been dead for at least 2 years. Their remains are then deposited down the sides or the back of the tomb, whats left of the coffin is destroyed, thus making room for then new tenant. Some of the tombs have long lists of those that are "buried" in the same tomb. Cool stuff. No wonder the New Orleans cemeteries are said to be among the most haunted in the world. It is probably relatives fighting over who was there first.