199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die by Loren Rhoads

Hello my lovely readers! Two of my interests are combined into one book. Let's get into it!

SYNOPSIS

More than 3.5 million tourists flock to Paris's Père Lachaise cemetery each year. They are lured there, and to many cemeteries around the world, by a combination of natural beauty, ornate tombstones and crypts, notable residents, vivid history, and even wildlife. Many also visit Mount Koya cemetery in Japan, where 10,000 lanterns illuminate the forest setting, or graveside in Oaxaca, Mexico to witness Day of the Dead fiestas. Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery has gorgeous night tours of the Southern Gothic tombstones under moss-covered trees that is one of the most popular draws of the city.

199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die features these unforgettable cemeteries, along with 196 more, seen in more than 300 photographs. In this bucket list of travel musts, author Loren Rhoads, who hosts the popular Cemetery Travel blog, details the history and features that make each destination unique. Throughout will be profiles of famous people buried there, striking memorials by noted artists, and unusual elements, such as the hand carved wood grave markers in the Merry Cemetery in Romania.
MY THOUGHTS
This coffee table book was such a fascinating read. I love to travel and throughout my travels, I try to find anything related to death, whether it be a death museum or a cemetery.

I stumbled upon the New Calton Cemetery when I was in Edinburgh, Scotland while on the way to Holyrood Palace in 2023.

When I was newly pregnant with Charlotte, I went to Egypt and of course went to see the Pyramids of Giza later that year.

I made it a point to visit Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina to honor Eva Peron on my first ever solo trip in 2014.

While in Cuba, I had to stop by the Cristobal Colon Cemetery in Havana a few years later in 2017.

In college, I studied abroad in Ireland in 2010 and we visited both Newgrange as well as the graveyard around the Mainstir Bhuithe.

I show all these pictures to illustrate how much I love learning about death and dying as well as traveling. This book was right up my alley. Author Loren Rhoads did a great job in giving digestible information on how the cemeteries/graveyards were created, short biographies on who rests in them and tidbits about the countries/states they're in.

I highly recommend this book if you want to travel throughout the U.S. and the world through cemeteries from the comfort of your sofa. Maybe it'll inspire you to visit some!