If you’ve ever felt drawn to the quiet beauty of a cemetery, you’re not alone. There’s even a term for people like us—taphophiles—those fascinated by cemeteries, funerals, and gravestones. In this guide, we’ll explore my Top 5 Cemeteries, from breathtaking historic burial grounds to some of the most famous final resting places in the world.
If you haven’t noticed by now, I LOVE CEMETERIES! There’s something undeniably peaceful about them, and I find them to be some of the most beautiful places to visit.
What I love most is that headstones leave little hints about the people buried beneath them. If you know how to read tombstone symbolism, a cemetery can tell you countless stories. Take it a step further and do some research, and you might be surprised by what you uncover — real lives, forgotten histories, and sometimes even a few mysteries.
No. 5 Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Hollywood, California
📍 Location: Los Angeles, California
📜 Founded: 1899
💀 Notable Features:
- Resting place of Hollywood legends
- Amazing mausoleums and sculptures
- Outdoor movie screenings
Hollywood Forever is one of the most iconic cemeteries in the world, serving as the final resting place for actors, directors, musicians, and more. It was also one of the first cemeteries Matt and I explored together, making it even more special. (Awwwww)
Unfortunately, we arrived just before closing and had to rush through, trying to take in as much as possible before we were politely shown the exit. Even in that short visit, the atmosphere is unforgettable — ornate tombs, towering palm trees, and the lingering presence of Hollywood’s golden age.
No. 4 Green Mount Cemetery – Baltimore, Maryland
📍 Location: Baltimore, Maryland
📜 Founded: 1838
💀 Notable Features:
- Gothic entrance gate and really cool mausoleums
- Resting place of John Wilkes Booth and Lincoln assassination conspirators
- Sprawling, historic burial grounds
Green Mount Cemetery is one of the most visually striking cemeteries I’ve ever visited. The entrance alone, with its castle-like stone gateway, sets the tone for the haunting beauty inside.
John Wilkes Booth’s Final Resting Place
The Booth family plot is marked by a tall obelisk, but you won’t find a headstone for John Wilkes Booth himself—he was buried in an unmarked grave within the plot.
Visitors often assume a small blank stone marks his grave, but it’s actually the footstone for his sister, Asia Booth. That hasn’t stopped people from leaving pennies on it as a symbolic tribute to Abraham Lincoln.
The Mausoleums
My favorite part of Green Mount Cemetery? The mausoleums. There are a ton of them, each with a unique architectural style. One in particular caught my eye—it had an entrance leading down into the earth, the kind of place that practically begs you to peek inside. (I resisted, but barely.)
No 3. Green-Wood Cemetery – Brooklyn, New York
📍 Location: Brooklyn, New York
📜 Founded: 1838
💀 Notable Features:
- Massive 478-acre cemetery
- Historic Civil War catacombs
- Incredible views of the NYC skyline
Green-Wood Cemetery is one of the most breathtaking cemeteries in the United States. Spanning nearly 500 acres, it feels more like a vast, historic park than a burial ground.
A Cemetery with a View
One of the things that makes Green-Wood so special is its elevated location. From certain points in the cemetery, you can get stunning views of the New York City skyline, which creates a surreal contrast between the modern world and this historic resting place.
The Catacombs
Green-Wood is home to some of the oldest burial catacombs in the U.S., dating back to the Civil War era. These underground chambers hold the remains of some of New York’s most notable historical figures and are occasionally open for public tours.
If you love sprawling landscapes, intricate mausoleums, and a mix of natural and historical beauty, Green-Wood Cemetery is a must-visit.
No 2. Père Lachaise Cemetery – Paris, France
📍 Location: Paris, France
📜 Founded: 1804
💀 Notable Features:
- Over 1 million burials (plus 2–3 million in the ossuary)
- Resting place of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Édith Piaf
- The most visited cemetery in the world
Père Lachaise had been at the top of my bucket list for years, thanks to my teenage obsession with Jim Morrison. When I finally had the chance to visit, I (stupidly) didn’t grab a map, which meant I spent a lot of time wandering through endless rows of graves, getting lost.
Eventually, I found Jim’s grave—tucked among thousands of others, covered in fan tributes. But beyond Morrison, this cemetery is an architectural and historical marvel. The mausoleums, the winding pathways, the sheer number of famous figures buried here—it’s no wonder it’s the most visited cemetery in the world.
No 1. Mt. Moriah Cemetery – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
📍 Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
📜 Founded: 1855
💀 Notable Features:
- Abandoned and overgrown in places
- Efforts to restore and maintain its history
- A stunning example of rural cemetery design
Mount Moriah Cemetery is beautiful, eerie, and in desperate need of help. Once a grand rural cemetery spanning over 200 acres, it was left abandoned in 2011 when its last board member passed away. Since then, legal battles have left ownership in limbo, and nature has taken over.
Preserving Mount Moriah
When Matt and I visited in 2016, parts of the cemetery were completely overgrown, and others had been turned into illegal dumping grounds. But despite its struggles, it remains one of the coolest cemeteries I’ve ever seen.
Thankfully, The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery have been working tirelessly to restore it. Their dedication is incredible, but they need support. If you’re interested in helping preserve this historic site, check out their efforts here.
What’s Are Your Top 5 Cemeteries?
Are you a fellow tombstone tourist? Have you visited any of these cemeteries, or do you have a favorite of your own? What makes a cemetery stand out to you, history, architecture, or something else? Let’s talk cemeteries in the comments!
8 comments
I live near Mt. Olivet, and I’m well acquainted with the owners who live on the premises. They still have burial plots available for anyone who wishes to be buried there. There have been numerous burials since the mid-90’s.
Thank you for the info, I’ll update the post! 🙂
Mt Olivet is one of my faves too. Mainly because of the Mausoleums, just not common here in Utah, or many western states. Ogden City Cemetery also holds a place in my heart, I lived close to it and spent a good deal of time walking through it. Aultorest in Ogden always kinda creeped me out, though I haven’t figured out why. It might be the massive Mount Ogden mausoleum, but I just got a weird vibe coming from there. I’m not as well traveled as you, so I haven’t seen Hollywood forever or some of those others. But I enjoyed seeing you on the news the other night.
The Aultorest Mausoleum is my favorite part of that cemetery! 🙂 I like the old Jewish section of Aultorest too, cool headstone symbolism.
It was the Jewish section of Aultorest that drew me in there in the first place, very cool. I have yet yo go through the mausoleum, though it’s on my to do list-soon.
Thank you for these posts highlighting the “morbid” interests some of us share. I found your site searching for a likely quiet viewing place in Missouri along the path of the upcoming solar eclipse, perhaps a little-known garden or park cemetery where I can watch the play of the changing ethereal light on weathered statuary and architectural monuments. If you have any tips or suggestions I’d be most grateful, and perhaps share some photos that you and your readers might find worthwhile.
I haven’t visited any of the places you wrote about, though they all sound intriguing , but I recently discovered a jewel no one should overlook- Magnolia Cemetery on the northern outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina. This Park-style burial ground, began in the Victorian era, is a sprawling necropolis bordering the river/estuary; its collections of iron-fenced family plots, elaborate monuments and statuary, and architecturally unique mausoleums memorializing the dead coexist gracefully and tranquilly with the towering liveoaks decked out in their finest spanish moss, spreading their peaceful arboreal embrace to enfold and protect their residents. Ahhh, to spend an evening in their company with the smiling gaze of Selene filtering through the gauzy lace finery of those old guardians, and perhaps share a bit of pleasant conversation with some of their wards!
Charleston is known for its old cemeteries and attracts many history buffs and ghost hunters, and on my trip I spent many hours walking between the stone houses and dooryards of the dead, allowing my mind to wander back through their times, both more brutish and more genteel, more accepting of the cruelty of Death and respectful of those claimed by Him; but those city-dwellers would likely feel quite slighted to see the splendour their suburbanite peers were honored with.
I only spent an afternoon in Magnolia, on the last day of a research trip for a writing and joint art project with my younger brother; had I known how rich with ideas this park is, I wouldn’t have waited. We went for compelling imagery and inspiring scenery, and we weren’t dissappointed- and we will be going back for a prolonged visit, perhaps concurrent with a future eclipse (which is central to my story setting); maybe we’ll get lost among the stories and stones and winding wooded trails, and accidentally get locked within its gates with those gentle spirits and radiant Selene – perhaps Persephone herself will find time for a guided tour of one of her finest real estate possessions this side of the Styx.
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