Welcome to airworthy tours
Your guide in the sky
My name is captain phillip
And today i'm going to serve as your pilot and tour guide as we take a tour of new orleans cemeteries
Since the beginning new orleans has been privy to fires tropical storms
Diseases and armed conflicts which meant that the locals had to find creative ways to bury
And honor their dead now, I know what you're thinking but the new orleans cemeteries
Are popular tourist attractions, but before we get started if you'd like to be a part of future aerial tours
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The early european settlers struggled with bearing their dead due to new orleans having a high water table
If you dig a few feet down the grave becomes soggy causing the casket to float
Many different burial methods were tried including placing stones on top of the casket
However graves were kept above ground following the spanish custom of using vaults to bury their dead
Many tombs look like miniature houses
complete with iron fences
And the roads and the cemeteries resemble streets. This is why new orleans cemeteries are known as cities of the dead
Today there are 42 cemeteries in the new orleans metro
Let's talk about the burial practices
After a body is interred
It is left undisturbed in the grave for a period of one year and one day at that point another body can be interred
With the remains being pushed back or collected by the family
The cemeteries are easily visible when coming from the armstrong airport to downtown new orleans
Below is the greenwood cemetery one of the largest in the city and holds over 20 000 burial plots
Next to it is the metairie cemetery
Many famous restaurant entrepreneurs are buried here
Including al copeland the founder of popeyes
Ruth fertil the founder of ruth. Chris steakhouse
And the original owners of antoine's brennans arnolds and galatoires
Which are the french quarter's most historic restaurants
Many of louisiana's political elite are buried here including nine governors of louisiana
seven mayors of new orleans and 49 kings of mardi gras
Our next stop is st. Louis cemetery number one
Which is the oldest cemetery in the city and was built in 1794
Historic people buried here include homer plessy who was the plaintiff in the plessy versus ferguson trial?
and voodoo priestess marie laveau
People leave offerings for her at her grave in hope that she will fulfill their wishes
The white pyramid tomb below will be the final resting place of actor nicholas cage
The cemetery sees a hundred thousand visitors a year and is the only cemetery that charges or needs a tour guide
Due to vandalism issues
If you wish to be buried here the going price for a plot of land is forty thousand dollars
Right behind st. Louis number one is st louis cemetery number two, which opened in 1823
after yellow fever and cholera outbreaks
Bodies aren't just buried in tombs and mausoleums, but also in wall vaults which are stacked tombs on the perimeter of many cemeteries
Glance at the ground and you'll see wall vaults that are only partially visible the rest are below the earth
Evidence that new orleans is gradually sinking
Our next stop is lafayette cemetery number one
founded in 1833 in the garden district
This cemetery has immigrants from over 25 different countries and natives of 26 states buried here
And lafayette cemetery number one has been used in multiple big budget films including interview with the vampire
Double jeopardy deja vu jonah hex and black and blue
Our last stop is st. Louis cemetery number three opened in
1854 it was built upon a former leper colony
It is much larger than the other st louis cemeteries with ten thousand burial sites and three thousand wall
vaults the most famous person buried here is ernest dutch morial the first
African-american mayor of new orleans st
Louis number three has an interesting mix of personal tombs and society vaults
in addition the archdiocese made plots available to a number of orders of priests nuns and brothers who lived
And worked in the city
When people die in new orleans, there is a mourning for the departed
However, there's also a major celebration of the person's life known as the jazz funeral
a typical jazz funeral begins at a church or funeral home
And then makes its way to the cemetery accompanied by a brass band and dancing revealers
For one last party in the big easy
If you enjoyed today's tour you can tip your tour guide by hitting the like button
Also, make sure to check out some of our other aerial tours in our honda series
Thank you for flying with airworthy tours, and we look forward to seeing you on our next flight