Top 18 Beautiful Cemeteries in all Around the World

People travel the world for all kind of reasons. In contemporary world, people tend to think of death and beauty as unsuited, but some of the amazing and beautiful cemeteries around the world quickly convince any travelers. Whether people go any city or countryside around the world, they will surly find these, however while entering the cemetery is something frrl nervous or some of them creepy feeling. There is combination of spooky mystery and eerie tombstones as create a beautiful sight. Moreover, some of them stunning to see and when time is taken to enjoy the views. As cemeteries contains thousands of graves with very famous literary figures or some are historical landmark and an urban oasis as well as some charming graveyards having several tombs with painted intense colors. These cemeteries integrity the deceased by giving them beautiful places as serving as public parks, sacred   sites also become tourist destination which help to keep the dead among us as something close to alive.

“visiting cemetery on vacation help me understand what the surrounding community values, it makes me feel more connected to people, to the past and the life itself” says 

Rhoads the author of Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel.

Here, a sight inside 18 of the most beautiful final resting places around the world.

Waverley Cemetery — Sydney, Australia

Heritage listed and most iconic location in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, is Waverly Cemetery that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. However, it is the popular optimal when selecting a resting place or commemorating the life of a loved family members. The first interment held on 4^th August 1877 as well as it has widely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments, today there are more than 250,000 interments in gravesites and memorials that covers 40 acres. Influential Australians such as poet Henry Lawson and writer Dorothea Mackellar are buried here and more 200 veterans including almost 11 U.S. Civil war Soldiers who emigrated after their service.

Merry Cemetery — Sapanta, Romania

The small town of 5,000 souls in Northern Romania has unique cemetery that known as the Cimitirul Vesel – The Merry Cemetery. This called that with good reason Each grave is marked, not with an austere, cold stone but lively and beautifully decorative. Here, 600 wooden crosses bear the life stories, dirty details and final moments of the bodies they mark. However, they displayed in bright, cheery pictures as well as annotated with limericks are the stories of everyone who died of the town, Sapanta. Dacian’s custom says “it is believed that a cheerful attitude in front of death”, they also believe that in life after death, death being just entered in to another world and they didn’t regret death as a tragic end, other hand it is an opportunity to meet their God. In the painting from the cemetery there are many abstract motifs inspired from the decorations used on the wooden gates or the textiles fabrics from the region. The cemetery of Sapanta is like a book about the life and death of the villagers as well as the artisan Ioan Stan Patras became a narrator who got to write the village chronicle. Even though, the technique used by artist is still use today, he used vivid colors obtained from the natural pigment. 

Chichicastenango Cemetery, Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Most colorful where each pigment is symbolic, far from the city and rarely visited by tourists on the hill, Chichicastenango Cemetery considered the colorful cemeteries in the world. Scattered throughout the countryside of Guatemala are cemeteries that have tombstones painted with candy colors, however these colors painted by friends and family members which their favorite as honoring and remembering the dead. These tomb’s colors are reflecting their family member’s statues like white for purity, mother’s grave painted with turquoise as protection, Grandfather’s yellow color as like the golden sun will protect humanity. People are celebrating Day of the Dead-on 1^st November at this cemetery, and it became focal point for rituals and prayer for their loved one. They dress up colorful clothes as well as cleaning and tending grave, decorating with colorful flowers and have picnics right next to the tomb of family members. Even though, they celebrated as Giant Kites of Vibrant Colors as believe that by flying kites with message written on them they could communicate with them. 

Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, Canada

One of the first rural cemeteries in North America, Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal, Canada was incorporated in 1847 under the Act of the provincial Parliament of Canada. This historic cemetery located on the North slope of Mount Royal hills and valleys gives awesome views in 165 acres. However, this cemetery is revealing close to 200,000 life stories and each special in own ways. In the mid-1800s, it was outside of city and combine horticulture and commemoration and it became a beautiful garden on the mountain with romantic notion of a city of the dead. Whole year, there are many tours and events are held for those interested in learning more about the rich historic and natural treasure on this cemetery. 

Old Jewish Cemetery — Prague, Czech Republic

The Old Jewish Cemetery is the oldest surviving cemetery in the city, Prague along with the Old-New Synagogue as the most important site in the Prague Jewish town. However, the oldest burial date listed in 1439, though the cemetery was probably being use before that and the most recent burial was in 1787. Even though, the cemetery was expanded several times over the centuries and it was not big enough to meet the needs to the people. As well as the space was scarce, bodies were buried on top of each other with graves layered up to 10 deeps. Moreover, there are approx. 12,000 tombstones in the cemetery and many of them decorated with animals and plant motifs. Visitors have to pay small amount of money for photographs. Hundreds of pebbles and prayers written on tiny papers can be found resting atop of the gravestones. The cemetery closed on Saturday and Jewish’s holidays as well as April to October open from 9 AM to 6 PM and November to March from 9 AM to 4:30 PM.

St. Louis No. 1 — New Orleans, La.

The oldest existent cemetery in New Orleans and still the site of several burial a year, St. Louis No.1. However, this cemetery was opened in 1789 and has more than 600 fascinating tombs line maze like narrow walkways. It is also the most well-known as holding the graves of several notable figures including Bernard de Marigny, Marie Laveau and Paul Morphy. Moreover, the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, later has undergone preservation work funded by grants from the Save America’s Treasures program. This cemetery is attractive in its own different ways as it is surrounded by lush gardens, lots of trees or filled with beautiful flowers makes the best cemetery in the world. The previous cemetery was built in New Orleans with floods in mind, but designs were to help protect this below sea level cemetery from destroyed every time a storm rolled through. Though, this has been affected by weather over the years that only enhances the spooky appeal.

La Recoleta Cemetery — Buenos Aires, Argentina

Over 6,400 grandiose mausoleums resembling Gothic chapels, Greek temples, imaginary caves and stylish little houses at La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires. This is listed most extraordinary graveyards. This exclusive cemetery founded in 1822 and filled with over the top funerary architecture which reflects 1880 to 1930 in golden era, at that time Buenos Aires was one of the world’s richest cities. this cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural style as is the last stop of the country’s most celebrated presidents, intellectual, army generals and entertainers. The cemetery is open daily 8 AM to 6 PM, as well as free English take place at 11 AM on Tuesday and Thursday.

Xoxocotlan — Oaxaca, Mexico

The cemeteries of Xoxo were established by Spanish missionaries in the 16^th Century, at 15 minutes outside the city of Oaxaca. They come alive on the night of October 31^st on Halloween as celebrating for Day of the Dead. This magical place of densely packed grave sites ablaze with thousands of candles as well as welcome the spirit of lost loved ones believed to return on November 1 and 2. However, villagers decorate the grave with bright orange marigold flowers and red cockscomb, tall candles, votives, figurines and food. Also, on these festive gravesites, family members gather to wait for the deal while drinking mescal, eating favorite food of the deceased as well as mariachis. Well, it is challenge to photograph when the crowds stream in at around ten in the evening. 

Green-Wood Cemetery—Brooklyn, N.Y.

One of the largest and most prominent burial grounds in the United states, Green-Wood Cemetery at Brooklyn. This cemetery built in 400 acres in 1838 and perfect example of the rural cemetery movement. The original layout of the cemetery was designed by landscape architect David Bates Douglass. It is also stop on the Revolutionary war trail as one of the America’s largest collections of 19^th and 20^th century mausoleums and statues. However, from that time it has become a tourist destination and final resting place of around 600,000 persons. However, Green – Wood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. 

Highgate Cemetery — London, England

Listed grade 1 in English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic interest in England, Highgate Cemetery is one of the London’s most unusual cemeteries that originally opened in 1839 as the one of the city’s magnificent seven park cemeteries. The tombs and building of the cemetery are constructed in an imposing Victorian Gothic as well as maze of pathways, shaded courtyards and empty church. It has finest funerary architecture as well as place of peace and contemplation where a romantic profusion of trees, memorial and wildlife flourish. Well, this cemetery has two parts, the East and West cemetery as more than 170,000 people buried and 53,000 graves. This is not cemetery but a nature reserve. Here, visitors have to Pre-booking for West side tours at weekdays and on weekends it’s first come, first served with tours every half hour. 

Cementerio General — Santiago, Chile

One of the world’s scenic cemeteries also worth visited place Cementerio General at Santiago, Chile. However, this cemetery covered over 210 acres just north of the city center in the Recoleta city. This has exclusive and expansive cemetery is a history as well as its architecture style of the elegant, massive mausoleums as built in elegant designs and styles including French and Italian styles also Mayan Temple. In the cemetery, where young children and babies are laid to rest and their tombstones decorated in plastic crib as toys and flowers as countless rows of tiny cribs can be upsetting for some.  

Bonaventure — Savannah, Georgia

This cemetery was developed on the historically significant site of Bonaventure Plantation as located at Wilmington River, east of Savannah. However, in 1846 this was for private and it became public in 1907 as well as people still purchase intermate rights here. This is most famous tourist’s destination for 150 years because of its tree-lined roadway, well-known people interred unique cemetery sculpture and architecture as its entrance at 330 Bonaventure Road covers 1000 acres area as become largest in the city. The old growth oaks covered in Spanish Moss and the Victorian grave markers contributes to its beauty. Visitors can entry between 8 AM to 5 PM as the Bonaventure Administration office at the entrance of the cemetery. 

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego

Located on the grounds of the former Army coastal artillery station Fort Rosecrans as a federal military cemetery at San Diego, California which administrated by United states department of Veterans Affairs. This cemetery is situated at 10 miles west of Downtown San Diageo where one side city and another Pacific Ocean like Waverly Cemetery, Australia. There are 112,000 people from military conflicts dating back to the 1800s including honor recipients as most grave markers facing the sea. Today, this cemetery is closed to new interments and only those interments are allowed which subsequent interments for veterans as well as eligible members in existing gravesites. According to the Burial National Cemetery is open for all armed force who have met minimum active requirement, however a veterans’ spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, unmarried adult children with disabilities may eligible for burial. 

South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata, India

Founded in 1767 with nearly 300 years of tropical fauna overgrowth which located at the Park Street area in Kolkata, India. This amazing cemetery was one of the largest non-Christian cemeteries outside Europe and America but today this cemetery longer to use and convert in to heritage site as well as this is famous for pubs and food joints. There are approx. 1900 graves represents a melting pot of design inspire from European gothic to classical antiquity to Indo-Saracenic styles. Well, this cemetery has number of graves belong to popular military and political people of the Asiatic society. Several people have complained that they feel dizzy or feel sick after visit here as well as some of them breathlessness even though, they have no breathing problem. 

Neptune Memorial Reef, Key Biscayne, United States

Also knows as Atlantis Memorial Reef, the lost city is part of a Neptune Society sponsored underwater cemetery and acts as an artificial reef. This cemetery is situated about 3 miles off the coast of Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida. Well, this cemetery prepared by Florida artist Kim Brandell as well as it opened in 2007 after the years of permit haggling. Though, in recent study by the Department of Environment Resource Management concluded that marine life around the Reef has gone from the Zero to thousands in two years. To reach there, charting boat or snorkel. Local people dive the Reef as a regular basis to meet their loved one and family members as well as many of them 5 time of the month.  However, this architecture built in 16^th century with bronze and steel accents as this was designed to create marine environment for coral and fish as in the end creating a city of the dead. 

Okunoin Cemetery in Mount Koya, Japan

Listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the scare site and Pilgrimage Routes at the Kil Mountain Range, Okunoin Cemetery located in the Mount Koya or Koyasan mountains of Japan. There are 200,000 unique gravestones and 100 Buddhist temples which dominate the forest and those there want to be close to Kobo Dashi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism in death. Around the mausoleum where cemetery located and it is famous for its unusual headstones. This cemetery is filled with giant spaceships, cups as well as other strange monuments erected for the former employees of coffee companies and an Astronautical. These unique tributes are beautiful and lovely, especially in winter as cedar trees, a blanket of snow and monastic like silence.

Père-Lachaise — Paris, France

World’s most visited cemetery and have greatest collection of Human talent, Pere Lachaise in Paris and this name from King Louis XIV’s confessor. However, this cemetery located on a hillside and known as Champ Eveque where a rich merchant lived in 15^th century. This hilly terrain and tree-lined avenues are overcrowded, peace and seductive as well as surround the Sculptures and tomb runs the gamut from simple, flat, horizontal headstones to elaborate mini chapels open to public. There are more than 1.5 annual tourists are visit this graveyard as extends 44 hectares and approx. 70,000 burial plots. This cemetery is a combine between a shrine and an English park. Many are here to pay their respects to celebrities as varied as writers Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust, musician Jim Morrison of The Doors, composer Chopin, actor Sarah Bernhardt, and singer Edith Piaf.