7 Must-Visit Historic Cemeteries in Europe

At the southern edge of Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, lies Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard of notable figures dating back to the 1500s. The graveyard sits on the site of a former Franciscan friary. Accessible by day with guides, visitors can also walk the graveyard at night on a City of the Dead Tour, where the Black Mausoleum can then be visited, too. © Jaroslav Moravcik | Dreamstime.com

One of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the Cimitero Monumentale features many artistic tombs and monuments. The cemetery, open since the mid-1800s, includes Italian sculptures, Greek temples and even a smaller version of Trajan’s Column. Within this cemetery you’ll find the graves of sculptors, architects, painters, mayors of Milan and more. © MNStudio | Dreamstime.com

Located beneath the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, the Imperial Crypt houses the tombs and urns of the House of Habsburg family. The burial chamber holds 12 emperors and 18 empresses, as well as the bones of 145 other Habsburg royalty. Today a dozen resident Capuchin friars continue the tradition as guardians and caretakers of the crypt. © Jean Marc Pierard | Dreamstime.com

When Paris faced overcrowding in cemeteries in the mid-18th century, burial grounds such as Montmartre Cemetery emerged. Situated in the 18th arrondissement, this site is the final resting place of many famous artists and writers including Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Degas and the original burial site of Émile Zola. © Jan Zoetekouw | Dreamstime.com

The largest cemetery in Paris, however, can be found in the 20th arrondissement. Père Lachaise Cemetery draws more than 3.5 million visitors each year and holds the graves and tombs of notable figures like Frédéric Chopin, Édith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein and Jim Morrison. Dating back to 1804, this cemetery also features Jewish and Muslim enclosures, both constructed in the 19th century to allow many religions to share the same ground. © Jerome Cid | Dreamstime.com

Roughly translated as the “Cemetery of Fools,” the Bohnice Cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic, was established in the early 1900s for a nearby psychiatric hospital. About 4,300 patients of the hospital were buried here across nearly 60 years before the cemetery closed in 1963. Soldiers of World War I are also found here. Today visitors claim a strange atmosphere hangs over the grounds, pointing to its perhaps dark and mysterious past and the stories of some of the patients who ended up here. © Ilona Bradacova | Dreamstime.com

One of the most famous cemeteries in Europe, Highgate Cemetery in North London is the resting place of about 170,000 people. The overlapped setup of the ground is unique: graves over graves, one leaning over the next. Dirt pathways weave between rows of burials, letting visitors feel as if they’re discovering new graves for the first time. The cemetery is home to notable figures such as Karl Marx, George Michael, George Eliot, Douglas Adams and more. © Spiroview Inc. | Dreamstime.com