These are working burial grounds and should be treated as such. They are also, by design, significant works of landscape architecture and among the quietest and best-planted spaces in the cities that hold them. Here are twelve.
1. Pere Lachaise, Paris, France
Opened in the early nineteenth century on a hillside outside what was then the city, laid out with winding paths and mature trees on sloping ground.
The layout is deliberately picturesque rather than gridded, and the tree cover is substantial. Pere Lachaise is the landscaped burial ground that set the pattern for a century of others.
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2. Highgate, London, England
A Victorian ground so heavily planted that much of it now functions as a woodland, with terraced architecture and an Egyptian-revival avenue cut into the hillside.
Part of it is managed as a nature reserve and access to some sections is by guided visit only. Highgate is the landscaped burial ground that has partly returned to forest.
3. Mount Auburn, Massachusetts, USA
Opened in 1831 and widely cited as the first garden cemetery in the United States, planted as an arboretum and used from the outset for walking.
It was an explicit model for the public parks that followed. Mount Auburn is the landscaped burial ground that taught American cities to build parks.
4. Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina
A dense grid of mausoleums arranged as streets, so the effect is of walking through a miniature city of small buildings rather than across open ground.
The architecture is the entire experience. Recoleta is the landscaped burial ground laid out as a town plan.
5. Staglieno, Genoa, Italy
Extensive nineteenth-century sculpture arranged along colonnades and terraces, produced during a period when the city had both wealth and a school of sculptors.
It is treated as a significant collection of sculpture in its own right. Staglieno is the landscaped burial ground that functions as an open-air gallery.
6. Okunoin, Koyasan, Japan
A long approach through an ancient cedar forest, with moss-covered stone monuments under enormous trees and very little direct sunlight.
The forest and the monuments have grown together over centuries. Okunoin is the landscaped burial ground where the trees are older than most of the stones.
7. The Merry Cemetery, Sapanta, Romania
Carved and brightly painted wooden markers, each with a picture and a verse, produced in a continuous local tradition by a succession of craftsmen.
The visual effect is entirely unlike anywhere else. Sapanta is the landscaped burial ground painted in blue.
8. Waverley, Sydney, Australia
A hillside site above the ocean on the coastal walk, with rows of pale monuments arranged on terraces facing the sea.
The position is the reason people come. Waverley is the landscaped burial ground with the best outlook on this list.
9. Glasgow Necropolis, Scotland
A Victorian hilltop ground designed with deliberate views over the city, reached by a bridge and laid out with paths climbing the slope.
The sightlines were part of the design brief. The Necropolis is the landscaped burial ground built as a viewpoint.
10. Zentralfriedhof, Vienna, Austria
One of the largest such grounds in Europe, so extensive that sections have been given over to wildlife and are managed as meadow and woodland.
Parts are effectively countryside inside a capital city. The Vienna ground is the landscaped burial site large enough to contain a nature reserve.
11. Green-Wood, Brooklyn, USA
Opened in 1838 on landscaped glacial hills with ponds and winding drives, and historically one of the most visited destinations in the country.
Its popularity as a place to walk directly influenced the creation of large urban parks. Green-Wood is the landscaped burial ground that was once a major tourist attraction.
12. Bonaventure, Savannah, USA
Live oaks hung with Spanish moss over avenues laid out on a former plantation site beside a river, with a dense tree canopy throughout.
The tree cover defines the place entirely. Bonaventure is the landscaped burial ground where the planting overwhelms everything else.
The First Public Parks
These grounds were built because cities needed space, and they were landscaped because the people who built them believed a green place to walk was worth providing. In many cities they arrived before any park did.
One thing matters more than everything above. These are active burial grounds, and on any given day people are there visiting family. Keep to the paths, keep your voice down, do not photograph anyone who is visiting, and follow whatever the posted rules say. They are open to visitors because the people who run them are generous about it, and that is worth not testing.
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