Cemeteries Around the World

I have a huge list of bookmarked websites for cemeteries (and other sites) around the world that I think would be interesting to visit. It’s certainly far from exhaustive but includes places that I have visited or would like to. The list focuses mainly on older sites, or ones that have some unique point of interest. The sites may be cemeteries, crypts, catacombs, ossuaries, tombs, memorials, or other sites related to death.*  The links are not always for the official site, so please let me know of any dead ones (!) or better ones – I’ll try to update this page on a regular basis.

Asia/Pacific

Australia
Port Arthur, Tasmania – Isle of the Dead
Sydney, NSW – Waverley Cemetery

China
Hong Kong – Hong Kong Cemetery
Xi’an – Terracotta Warriors

India
Agra – The Taj Mahal
Kolkata – South Park Street Cemetery

Indonesia
Jakarta – Museum Taman Prastasi
South Sulawesi –  Tana Toraja Burial Grounds

Japan
Aizu-Wakamatsu – Byakkotai Cemetery
Hakodate – Foreigner’s Cemetery
Hiroshima – Peace Memorial Park
Koya-san – Okunoin Cemetery
Kyoto – Kurodani Cemetery
Kyoto – Nishi-Otani Cemetery (Kiyomizudera)
Nagasaki – Sakamoto International Cemetery
Tokyo – Aoyama Cemetery
Tokyo – Masakado Kubizuka
Tokyo – Yanaka Cemetery
Tokyo – Zoshigaya Cemetery
Yokohama – Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery

the Philippines
Sagada – Hanging Coffins

Vietnam
Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Europe

Austria
Hallstatt – Beinhaus (bone house)
Vienna – Zentralfriedhof
Vienna – Cemetery of the Nameless
Vienna – Stephandom’s Crypt
Salzburg – St. Sebastian’s Cemetery

Belgium
Antwerp – Schooselhof Cemetery
Brussels – Laeken Cemetery
Ghent – Western Cemetery

Croatia
Zagreb – Mirogoj Cemetery

Czech Republic
Prague – New Jewish Cemetery
Prague – Old Jewish Cemetery
Prague – Olsany Cemetery
Kutna Hora – Sedlec Ossuary

Denmark
Copenhagen – Assistens Cemetery

England
London – Highgate (East and West)
London – Abney Park
London – Brompton
London – Kensal Green
London – Nunhead
London – West Norwood
London – Tower Hamlets
London – Postman’s Park
London – City of London Cemetery
London – Barnes Old Cemetery
Brookwood – Brookwood Cemetery
London – Cross Bones
London – Westminster Abbey
Whitby – Church of St. Mary’s 

France
Paris – Pere Lachaise
Paris – Montmartre
Paris –Cimetiere des Chiens (et Autres Animaux Exotiques)
Paris – Montparnasse
Paris – Passy
Paris – Catacombs

Germany
Berlin – Weissensee Jewish Cemetery
Bonn – Old Cemetery (Alter Friedhof)
Cologne – Melaten Cemetery
Frankfurt – Hauptfriedhof

Hamburg – Ohlsdorf Cemetery (the largest in Europe)
Munich – Forest Cemetery
Worms – Heiliger Sand (Holy Sands Jewish Cemetery)

Hungary
Budapest – Kerepesi

Ireland
Boyne Valley, Co. Meath – Newgrange
The Burren, Co. Clare – Poulnabrone Dolmen

Italy
Bologna – Cimitero Monumentale della Certosa di Bologna
Ferrara – Cimitero Monumentale della Certosa di Ferrara
Florence – English Cemetery
Florence – San Miniato al Monte cemetery
Genoa – Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno
Milan – Cimitero Monumentale di Milano
Modena – San Cataldo Cemetery
Palermo – Capuchin Catacombs
Rome – Protestant Cemetery
Rome – Catacombs of St. Callixtus
Turin – Cimitero Monumentale di Torino
Urbania – Chiesa dei Morti (Church of the Dead)
Varenna – Varenna Cemetery
Venice – Cimitero di San Michele
Venice – Jewish Cemetery on Lido

Poland
Zakopane – Peksowy Brzyzek

Romania
Bucharest – Bellu Cemetery
Maramures – Merry Cemetery

Russia
Dargavs – City of the Dead
Moscow – Lenin’s Mausoleum
Moscow – Novodevichy Cemetery
St. Petersburg – Tikhvin Cemetery
Yekaterinaburg – Mafia graves (Shirokorechenskoe Cemetery)

Scotland
Glasgow – St Andrews Cathedral

Slovakia
Bratislava – Ondrejsky Cemetery
Ostrva – The Symbolic Cemetery

Slovenia
Ljubljana – Žale Cemetery

Spain
Barcelona – Cementiri de Montjuïc
Barcelona – Poblenou Cemetery
Bilbao – Cemetery of Bilbao
Cordoba – Cemetery Nuestra Senora de la Salud
Granada – Municipal Cemetery of Granada
Madrid – Almudena Cemetery
Santander – Ciriego Cemetery
Valencia – General Cemetery of Valencia

Turkey
Dalyan – Lycian Rock-cut Tombs

Ukraine
Lviv – Lychakiv Cemetery

North America

Canada
Halifax – Fairview (Titanic) Cemetery
Halifax – Old Burying Ground
Kingston, Ontario – Cataraqui Cemetery
Montreal – Mount Royal Cemetery
Montreal – Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery
Ottawa – Beechwood Cemetery
Ottawa – Notre Dame Cemetery
Quebec – Hôpital-Général de Québec Cemetery
Quebec – St. Matthew’s Cemetery
Toronto – Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Toronto – Toronto Necropolis
Vancouver – Mountain View Cemetery
Victoria – Ross Bay Cemetery
Winnipeg – St Boniface Cathedral Cemetery

Mexico
Guanajuato – Mummies of Guanajuato
Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan – Xoxocotlan Cemetery

USA
Brooklyn, NY – Green-Wood Cemetery
Deadwood, SD – Mount Moriah Cemetery
El Paso, TX – Concordia Cemetery
Independence, Missouri – Leila’s Hair Museum
Key Biscayne, Florida – Neptune Memorial Reef
Los Angeles – Hollywood Forever Cemetery
New Orleans – Lafayette Cemetery #1
New Orleans – St Louis Cemetery #1
Cambridge, MA – Mount Auburn Cemetery
Savanna, Georgia – Bonaventure Cemetery
San Juan, Puerto Rico – Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow, NY – Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Waterbury, VT – Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard

South America

Argentina
Buenos Aires – Recoleta Cemetery
Buenos Aires – Chacarita Cemetery

Bolivia
Sucre – Sucre General Cemetery
Uyuni – Train Cemetery

Brazil
Rio de Janeiro – Sao Joao Batista Cemetery
Rio de Janeiro – The English Cemetery

Chile
Punta Arenas – Punta Arenas Cemetery
Santiago – Cementerio General de Santiago

Peru
Lima – Catacombs of San Francisco

Middle East and Africa

Egypt
Alexandria – Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
Cairo – City of the Dead
Luxor – Valley of the Kings

Iraq
Najaf – Wadi-us-Salaam (the largest cemetery in the world)

Israel
Jerusalem – Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Jerusalem – Mount of Olives Cemetery
Jerusalem – Mount Zion

War Cemeteries

(This is a small list – there are so many that it would be impossible and impractical to list them all. To keep things manageable, the ones here are of particular interest to me.)

Arlington, Virginia, USA – Arlington National Cemetery

Normandy, France – Normandy American Cemetery

Normandy, France – Bayeux War Cemetery

Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Japan – Yokohama War Cemetery

Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, USA – USS Arizona Memorial

Busan, South Korea – United Nations Memorial Cemetery 

Ypres Salient Battlefields, Belgium – Tyne Cot Cemetery

Turkey – Gallipoli Cemeteries

Verdun, France – Verdun cemeteries and memorials

Kanchanaburi, Thailand – Don-Rak War Cemetery

Marpi Point Field, Saipan – Suicide and Banzai Cliffs

 

*Please note, this list is for information purposes only, it is not intended to promote these places as tourist sites. I know there is a very fine line between visiting a site out of a specific interest, and doing so as a tourist activity, but I hope and expect that the people who are interested in visiting these (and other) cemeteries do so with the proper respect and decorum befitting these sites. This is especially true at places that are indeed considered tourist sites (like Pere Lachaise) or are very near tourist places (St Michele Cemetery in Venice) – unfortunately I have seen very disrespectful behaviour from tourists in the presence of mourners there. However, more and more of these places are showing up in guidebooks and travel websites, so it’s something that both the sites and the visitors will have to take into consideration.