I had read about Lafayette Cemetery #1, or #3 if you haven’t yet learned, and that it was full of history.
It was also located in a beautiful part of the city. What I found to be the coolest about this cemetery though was that while I was there and trying to find a wikipedia page with some history about it I stumbled across an amazing resource. It’s called Freetoursbyfoot.com and it has SO many tidbits of information that you can read it while your at the location! (This is how I found out why it’s actually Lafayette Cemetery #1 not #3)** It also has guided tours so it will give you step-by-step instructions to guide you to a a landmark and then tell you about it! I found this to be a great way to learn about New Orleans, because our schedule while we were there was too hectic to fit a guided tour into.
Back to the cemetery and why you should visit.
It’s beautiful. The tombs are all above ground so they are like small shrines to individuals, but really to whole families. We were curious about how this actually works, if you are to, you can read how that works here. The tombs were so ornate and beautiful, and this is really where I discovered the Free Tours By Foot to be such a hidden asset. It guides you to notable and interesting tombs and artistic aspects of tombs throughout the cemetery.
I thought the cemetery would feel spooky, but it really felt more like an educational museum. There was so much history about the families who lived there. If anything, the French Quarter felt spooky, but perhaps Lafayette Cemetery #3, even though the sign said Lafayette Cemetery #1, is located in the beautiful Garden District. I’ll tell you more about that in a very soon to be posted blog because I LOVED the Garden District. It was so rich in architectural beauty and truly earns it’s name as the “garden district”.
** When they filmed Double Jeopardy in this cemetery they changed the #1 to a #3 but there is no Lafayette Cemetery #3 as of yet.
Leave a Reply