One of the greatest collections of history and stories is the cemetery. Hundreds of thousands of years of family history and ancestry lay under the ground there.

This is part of why a town’s cemetery is one of the most important sections of town. The tradition of ceremoniously burying the dead began in prehistoric times.

In the beginning, the body was put in a hole with a rock covering it. Some of the possessions of the dead may have been put in the ground with the body as well.

The Saxons also buried their dead. These people were very skilled at digging and it was the most efficient way to take care of their dead for them.

However, the most important people they would heap the dirt over. This created mounds that they referred to as barrows.

Egypt, China, and Rome are also sites of some of the earliest tombs. The Egyptians mummies and pyramids are some of the most famous stories in regards to the dead.

By the time of the Middle Ages, there began to be enough stones covering graves that cemeteries came in being. Cemetery’s quickly became the place that distraught living could go to feel a connection with the loved one they were missing.

Soon after, the bodies were buried in the churchyards in Europe. If you were very rich, you probably would have preferred to have been buried inside the church itself as this provided greater protection from grave robbers.

The next best place to be buried was inside the churchyard to the east and as close to the church as possible. Social status was indicated by where your family and you were to be buried.

The idea of being buried in the East was that the dead buried there would have the best view of the sunrise when the Day of Judgment came. The north area of the churchyard was reserved for those who were thought to be sinners and this area was often considered to be the Devil’s domain.

Stillborns, bastards, and strangers were buried in the north area. Meanwhile, the poor were commonly placed in the south part of the churchyard.

People who had committed suicide, if they were awarded a proper burial at all, were passed over the fence because they would not be allowed to enter through the cemetery gates. They were also buried in the northern section.

However, it was not long before the churchyard became too crowded and those who were buried in the North were moved out of the churchyard. The Devil’s domain was effectively “exorcized” from the churchyard.

This made more room for the righteous that had died. Continuously rising populations still made the room in a church yard a problem.

At first, the coffins were buried closer together. Then, they began to stack coffins on top of each other.

In some areas, the ground was pushed so high from going over the coffins, that the churchyard was twenty feet higher than the actual church floor.

Later on, the problem became so bad that the coffin was only placed in church ground for a few days or hours before it was moved to another site to be replaced by the next dead.

At this point other alternatives had to be implemented. In France, the bodies were placed in the catacombs under the southern section of the city.

Today, it is guessed that the catacombs are the finally resting place of between three and six million French people. In addition, the government constructed four more cemeteries.

The most famous cemetery today is the Pere-lachaise. Pere-lachaise is the Cialis Professional place where Balzac, Victor Hugo, Colette, Chopin, Oscar Wilde and many other famous people are buried.

American and London soon implemented similar techniques. The demand for new graveyards grew as people realized that overcrowded churches were not the only problem.

Many water sources ran directly through graveyards and carried away disease and other contaminants. These things made people very sick.

The new cemeteries came in different styles and sizes, but they were very welcome. One well-known cemetery is Highgate.

Highgate features the classic dark, looming statues and creepy ghost stories that follow cemeteries today. Meanwhile, other graveyards became gardens where people felt comfortable taking walks and picnics.

Some examples of the beautiful garden cemeteries include the Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries in America. Today Bellefontaine is home to many war heroes and generals, writers, and adventurers.

Today every town has their own cemetery. Beginning in Louisburg, Kansas, and traveling around the world, the care of the dead is very important to all peoples and cultures.

Author Bio: Tom Selwick writes about the City of Louisburg. He recommends City of Louisburg for information about the city.

Contact Info:

Tom Selwick
TomSelwick09@gmail.com
http://www.thecityoflouisburg.com

Category: Recreation and Leisure/Travel
Keywords: City of Louisburg