St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest surviving cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, established in 1789 just beyond the edge of the original city. Reflecting the city's high water table and its French and Spanish Catholic heritage, burials here are made in above-ground tombs and family vaults, creating the dense "city of the dead" that has become emblematic of New Orleans. Among its many interments are notable figures of the city's history, and it holds the tomb long associated with the Voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau.

With its aged, crowded tombs and strong associations with Marie Laveau and local spiritual traditions, the cemetery has a powerful place in New Orleans folklore, and visitors sometimes describe an intense atmosphere among the vaults. Such impressions are subjective, and the connection between the site's spiritual reputation and any supernatural claim is a matter of tradition rather than documented fact.

The cemetery's genuine value lies in its history, its distinctive above-ground funerary architecture and its role as an active, sacred burial ground still used by New Orleans families. Approached respectfully, it offers an authentic and moving insight into the city's culture and its relationship with death and memory.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is an active Catholic cemetery managed by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and general public access is restricted: visitors may enter only on official guided tours (aside from family members visiting graves), a policy introduced to curb vandalism. Tours are ticketed and should be arranged in advance through the authorised operator.

As a working, sacred burial ground with fragile historic tombs, visitors are asked to remain with their guide, keep to the paths, refrain from touching or marking tombs, and behave with the quiet respect due to a place of mourning and remembrance.