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Old Cemeteries

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Sun July 26th, 2009, 11:40 pm

Nunhead Cemetery looks way gothic and soooo coool.

The Oscar tombstone looks art deco. Am I wrong???

Whats up with kissing the tombstones? Good luck? hmmm

I used to live across the street from an old cemetery and I would go in it a lot. One of the tombstones inspired me to write a novel.
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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Mon July 27th, 2009, 12:24 am

[quote=""Susan""]

Oscar Wilde has an interesting grave and there's an even more interesting tradition. Apparently it is traditional to kiss his tombstone and leave an lipstick imprint...no, I didn't!


[/quote]

I was there this spring. We went to Wilde's tomb but had to pass on the kissing!

Did you visit this gentleman (Victor Noir)?
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Susan
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Post by Susan » Mon July 27th, 2009, 12:25 am

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I was there this spring. We went to Wilde's tomb but had to pass on the kissing!

Did you visit this gentleman (Victor Noir)?[/quote]

No, we missed him, but I read about him. Interesting!
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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Mon July 27th, 2009, 12:27 am

I'll have to check out Nunhead next time I'm there (whenever that is). It looks beautiful!
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Sheramy
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Post by Sheramy » Mon July 27th, 2009, 1:03 am

[quote=""Susan""]Speaking of old cemeteries, on my recent trip to Paris, we visited Père Lachaise Cemetery. What a place! There were lots of little mausoleums and many were not kept up, so they looked quite spooky. I wonder if the families are responsible for the upkeep. There were so many graves, so close together. Lots of famous people buried there.[/quote]

I went to Pere Lachaise for the first time myself, in May. I'd wanted to go on previous trips but never made it out there. I did a 'greatest hits' walking tour with Paris Walks (all their tours are good and cheap too), then walked around by myself a while. I found as many artists as I could; Modigliani's tomb had more offerings on it then any other tomb I saw that day (even Jim Morrison's). Also found van Gogh's last doctor (Dr Gachet), who is buried there with his wife and children.

I also visited the Cimitiere de Passy (to see the graves of Manet and Morisot) and the small Cimitiere de Saint Vincent in Montmartre (to find Maurice Utrillo=not to be confused with the Cimitiere de Montmartre, didn't make it there). Parisian cemeteries have amazing atmosphere!

Stateside I love the old cemeteries in Cades Cove, TN (near Gatlinburg), where generations of mountain folk sleep in very peaceful surroundings.
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Post by Ash » Mon July 27th, 2009, 1:29 am

Oh I love those old European cemetaries. We'd seek them out any time we were around a church. We did go to Highgate, and several around Ireland. Some of the cemtaries in the US are pretty cool too. There is one near on the PCH in California that is an old cemetary of Irish immigrants from the late 1800s. Amazing setting, overlooking the ocean. We loved the one where Mary Baker Eddy is buried at Mt Aburn in Cambridge, and the one in Boston where Mother Goose is supposedly buried. This summer, we hit the one in Savannah and Charleston. Not quite as eery as the ones in Europe, but fascinating just the same.

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MrsMorland
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Post by MrsMorland » Mon July 27th, 2009, 12:02 pm

I love them too. I've been to some great ones in England and the ones in Boston many times. But I have to say, the most interesting ones to me are the small family plots that can be found sprinkled all over New England. We have one practically next to my house, it's enclosed behind an old tumble down stone wall and there are around 75 graves. Many dating to the late 1600's when this are was settled by colonists. Many of the people are from one family right up through the early 20th century. You can see one family, a mother and 3 kids, was wiped out in the course of 3 days in 1711, I wonder what it was? there are revolutionary veterans, civil war soldiers etc...It's fascinating to me,especially since these people lived right where I'm living today.

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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Mon July 27th, 2009, 1:22 pm

[quote=""Sheramy""]
Stateside I love the old cemeteries in Cades Cove, TN (near Gatlinburg), where generations of mountain folk sleep in very peaceful surroundings.[/quote]


We've driven through Cades Cove; it's a beautiful drive, no matter what time of year. There's a lot of history about pioneering life embedded in that place.

I like the old family plots and forgotten, run down cemeteries in the middle of nowhere. They are interesting for the flora and fauna that grow up around them as well as the history that's been laid to rest.

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Madeleine
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Post by Madeleine » Mon July 27th, 2009, 2:16 pm

I'm hoping to go to Highgate with my walking group, but I've got a feeling it might be only the newer part. I might sneak off to the old bit myself, apparently one of my friend's cousins is there, not far from Karl Marx.

Kensal Rise is meant to be another interesting one.

the old Jewish cemetery in Prague is fascinating, but impossible to read most of the stones as they're all packed in together like packs of cards.
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zsigandr
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Post by zsigandr » Mon July 27th, 2009, 6:34 pm

I love old cemeteries too! My favourite here in Canada is in a tiny village called Main-a-Dieu (hand of God) in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Some date back to the 1600's and it is a really tiny, weatherbeaten little place, but it is amazing (to me) just how old it is. Most of the places where I am from only date from the 1800's, so seeing tombs from the late 1500s to the 1600s is pretty amazing.

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