St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Habitat NOLA 197, originally uploaded by gina64.

In New Orleans, everyone is buried (or not-buried, I suppose) above ground because the water table is only 3 feet down. When the early settlers would bury their dead the air-tight caskets would float and rise up through the ground after a good rain.

Generations of families share the same tomb. How is that possible, you ask? How do they all fit in such a small space?

Well, the dead are placed into the tomb in a special burial bag that aids in decomposition. After approximately one year (according to our guide, Mary - I read somewhere else that it takes up to two years) the deceased will have completely decomposed, leaving a pile of...something. Local ordinance prohibits the burial of another family member until at least a year and a day after the previous burial. When the next person needs to be buried, the previous occupant's remains are brushed down into the base of the tomb, where they join those of their ancestors, and the newly deceased is placed in the tomb.

So endeth the lesson.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is New Orleans' oldest cemetery, so I'm glad we got a chance to see it. Marie Laveau, an alleged Voodoo Priestess, is buried there, along with relatives of the artist Degas. The acid trip scene from "Easy Rider" was filmed there:

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT



Mary told us that when Peter Fonda was sitting in the lap of the statue he was actually off-script and talking about his own mother, who had committed suicide. The director decided to keep it.

One more tidbit: I asked Mary why the ground was covered with crushed seashells. She said that they use the seashells because they have no natural gravel in the area.

Here are a few more photos from that day: