Because of the slow start of the day, we had to skip coffee and Pirate Alley geocache in the French Quarter and head straight to the cemetery. These cemeteries in New Orleans are something really different, they are said to be the cities of the dead, because the bodies have been buried above ground in different types of structures and mausoleums.
The reason why the bodies are buried above ground is due to old French and Spanish traditions, and in part because it's on old swamp land. What the reason is why this tradition started, it has given birth to beautiful, intriguing places around the city, where you can find interesting things to look at for hours and days.
This Cemetery was consecrated in 1823, as the St. Louis Cemetery #1 is from the year 1789, which is now the oldest and most famous cemeteries in New Orleans. Lots of the graves we saw was from the 1900s, and there was really a lot of signs that they were really old and starting to fall apart. There were also couple of graves where the coffin was visible.
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| Well yes, that's a coffin |
Next to the cemetery was a huge demolition site with high fences - it was the former housing development with 75 buildings, which was being demolished so they can build different kinds of housing instead of a neighborhood full of public housing complexes. Earlier, the cemeteries weren't safe because of the Iberville neighborhood which they were surrounding. Now because Iberville is empty and the "ghetto" is gone, the cemeteries are also safer. Still, driving a car around Iberville gives you a eerie feeling, the huge amount of similar buildings empty, the yard full of mud and some children's play spots still up. More eerie than walking in the cemetery alone.
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| Iberville |
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