Stories told by cemeteries

When I travel, I often find myself attracted to old graveyards and cemeteries. I didn’t even realize that those two words referred to different things until on one Graveyard Tour, (which I had joined because  I wanted to go to the cemetery) and the tour guide explained that they are different things and we weren’t going where I wanted to go. (My friend and I left the graveyard tour to go to the cemetery and found the interesting gravestones on our own).

If you are wondering about the distinction: in general, a cemetery is large and not associated with a church. OTOH, a graveyard is typically smaller and is usually associated (and often on the grounds of) a church.

I find that often I’m intrigued by what seems to be the stories of the people in the area. You can often see a man buried next to multiple wives and multiple children, many of whom died young and you wonder how their lives were. Or you see extended families that stayed in the area for generations. Or you see odd things on the gravestones about how the person died or notable things they did.  “Killed by treacherous murder”, killed in a cyclone or by drowning when traversing a river. Some tell of things they invented or feats they accomplished.

Also, the artwork on the gravestones in some areas is very interesting. I  went to a lecture on the various themes (that do change by region) and the speaker recommended the book to the right, Stories in Stone  ( you click on it to see more).  Lambs and angels, as well as figural trees, and favorite items of the people all tell stories.

There are great cemeteries to visit in Paris, New Orleans, London, Key West, Boston, and Savannah, and many other places.  Any place with old cemeteries is worth investigating, I found some fun gravestones in Port Douglas, Australia. So the next time you’re in an area and have the time, check one out.