Each culture and religion has its own sacred burial places and in some cases they are real wonders, both for monuments and artistic works contained and for the load of pathos that they manage to transmit.
If you are a fan of cemeteries, we recommend you visit the 10 largest in the world !
10 – Brookwood Cemetery: 2 square kilometers
Photo by Lewis Hulbert. Built at the behest of the London Necropolis Company, Brookwood cemetery is the largest in the United Kingdom and is located near the train station: in the quiet of this place you can hear the passage of trains to Waterloo.
- Location: Brookwood, UK
- Number of bodies buried: 235,000
- Extension: 2 sq km
- Year of creation: 1849
9 – Crown Hill Cemetery: 2.24 square kilometers
Photo by Tom Woodward. Crown Hill Cemetery is the largest private cemetery in the United States . The place of eternal rest is divided into 10 sectors and is very popular with tourists because of its position and the panorama offered.
- Location: Indianapolis, USA
- Number of buried bodies: 200,000
- Extension: 2.24 sq km
- Year of creation: 1864
8 – Arlington National Cemetery: 2.52 square kilometers
Arlington Cemetery is the most famous military cemetery in the United States , as well as one of the oldest. It was expanded during the Second World War and is divided into 70 sectors. Each year it attracts over 4 million visitors.
- Location: Arlington County, USA
- Number of buried bodies: 400,000
- Extension: 2,52 sq km
- Year of creation: 1864
7 – Spring Grove Cemetery: 2.96 square kilometers
Photo by David Ohmer. Founded by Stephen Page in 1845, Spring Grove Avenue Cemetery in Cincinnati saw its first burial on September 1, 1945. Numerous tourists are drawn each year to its 12 ponds , as well as the many monuments and memorials, and various examples of gothic architecture.
- Where is it: Cincinnati, USA
- Number of buried bodies: na
- Extension: 2.96 sq km
- Year of creation: 1845
6 – Rookwood Cemetery: 3 square kilometers
Photo by J Bar. Rookwood Cemetery is the largest Victorian cemetery in the world . The cemetery is divided into 5 religious areas, with separate offices for each culture, so as to offer the best possible service: General Group, Independent Group, Catholic Group, Jewish Group and Muslim Group.
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Number of bodies buried: 1 million
- Extension: 3 sq. Km
- Year of creation: 1868
5 – Karacaahmet Cemetery: 3 square kilometers
Located in Uskudar, on the Asian side of the city , this cemetery is divided into 12 sections, each dedicated to a different religious group. The cemetery is dedicated to the warrior Karaca Ahmet Sultan and has many historical tombs with engravings in Ottoman Turkish. The burial ground, covered by tall cypresses, has come to contain the maximum number of possible graves.
- Where is it: Istanbul, Turkey
- Number of bodies buried: 1 million
- Extension: 3 sq. Km
- Year of creation: 1436
4 – Ohlsdof Cemetery: 3.9 square kilometers
Photo by Staro1. Ohlsdof is the largest cemetery in Europe and annually hosts about 40% of Hamburg burials. It has a conciliation room and a museum aimed at promoting historical funeral culture to the public . Around 2 million tourists visit it every year.
- Location: Hamburg, Germany
- Number of bodies buried: 1.5 million
- Extension: 3.9 sq km
- Year of creation: 1877
3 – Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery: 3.9 square kilometers
This cemetery is dedicated to the sixteenth American President, founder of the US cemetery system. In 1999 Abraham Lincoln Cemetery received recognition as the 117th National Cemetery of the United States . It has a memorial area dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in the wars of the last century, as well as an information center.
- Location: Ellwood, USA
- Number of buried bodies: na
- Extension: 3.9 sq km
- Year of creation: 1862
2 – Calverton National Cemetery: 4.2 square kilometers
The Calverton Cemetery is the second largest cemetery in the world and the most used in the United States : every year it receives over 10,000 burials.
- Location: New York, USA
- Number of bodies buried: 212,000
- Extension: 4,2 kmq
- Year of creation: 1978
1 – Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery: 6 square kilometers
Photo by Hadi Abdulwahhab Tabatabaee. Wadi Al-Salam covers about 15% of the city of Najaf and is the Muslim sacred cemetery par excellence . Also known as the Valley of Peace, in its 1400-year history it has given the last home to Muslims from Iraq, Pakistan, India, Iran and other nationalities. Unfortunately, the work of ISIS is destroying it.
- Where is it: Najaf, Iraq
- Number of bodies buried: 10 million
- Extension: 6 sq km
- Year of creation: seventh century AD
