Saint Louis Cemetery is the name of three Roman Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans, Louisiana. All of these graves are above ground vaults; most were constructed in the 18th century and 19th century.
Doug Keister, author/photographer of Going Out in Style: The Architecture of Eternity states that
The custom of above-ground burial in New Orleans is a mixture of folklore and fact.
The vaults are in fact more due to French and Spanish tradition than they are to water table problems.
Cemeteries #1 and #2 are included on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.
Read more about Saint Louis Cemetery: Saint Louis #1, Saint Louis #2, Saint Louis #3
Famous quotes containing the words saint, louis and/or cemetery:
“Child in the womb,
Or saint on a tomb
Which way shall I lie
To fall asleep?”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“I have done my fiddling so long under Vesuvius that I have almost forgotten to play, and can only wait for the eruption and think it long of coming. Literally no man has more wholly outlived life than I. And still it’s good fun.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.”
—John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)