During our December 2015 trip to New Orleans we took a guided tour of “St Louis Cemetery #1”, the most visited of the city’s three “St Louis” burial places

 

Under partly cloudy skies, our tour had commenced in front of “Rev Zombie’s House of Voodoo” on St Peter Street. A bit further up that street was the site of an earlier city cemetery, abandoned due to a fire, city expansion and redevelopment.

 

Remains from the St Peter cemetery were moved to the “new” cemetery when it opened in 1789. Well…not all was moved. From time to time construction activity on the older site uncovers remains that missed out on the big move.

 

 

 

One form of burial in New Orleans involves crypts set into a large wall.

 

 

 

 

Most of the tombs are free-standing structures for individuals, families, or groups.

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide made sure we understood the strange mechanics behind the normal cemetery practices in which crypts are continually reused, with each becoming available to receive new remains a year and a day after a burial. He shared the somewhat gruesome details about  the role the hot summers play in decomposition of remains in an above ground crypt.

 

Although it was raining hard during the first part of our time in the cemetery, eventually the rain diminished and then stopped. That left only the huge puddles to deal with.

Thankfully both Rhonda and I were wearing boots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the tombs have multiple slots available for burials. Most also include a below-ground spot. As the tomb is used for additional burials, and remaining coffin is removed, and the decomposed remains from previous burials get pushed backward which sometimes causes them to fall down to the lowest level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As expected, the cemetery holds the remains of quite a number of New Orleans notables. Special mention should be made of the understanding that the city’s famed voodoo queen/priestess- Marie Laveau was interred here. The specific location of her burial was not publicly documented. It is widely believed that her remains were placed in the Glapion family crypt. (She was related by marriage to the Glapion family). A metal plaque attached to that tomb reinforces the claim. But followers / believers in her powers are not in agreement as to her final resting place. Visitors seeking good luck make three x marks on the tomb they believe to belong to Laveau.

Not all tombs are in good shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “Battle of New Orleans” was the final armed struggle of the War of 1812, considered by some to be the a “second war of independence”. In this conflict, the United States struggled to fend off incremental erosion of the young republic’s sovereignty by the British. This is the war that saw England invade the U.S., capturing and burning Washington D.C.

The commemorated battle actually took place after a treaty to end the war had been signed, but before it was ratified.