Highgate Cemetery in London: history, photo

Ancient English cemeteries, where the spirit of Victorian Gothic has been preserved, often become places for shooting various horror films. They cause genuine interest in the guests of England, who dream of visiting not only the most famous landmarks of the country.

One of the most interesting historical complexes in the UK, without the inspection of which no tourist can not do, is the full secrets and mysteries of Highgate Cemetery in London. Photos of destroyed tombstones, unusual sculptures, grieving angels on ivy-covered graves cause an irresistible desire to get to know the mysterious place as soon as possible.

A quiet corner full of secrets

Mystic Corner, where famous personalities are buried, left a mark on the history of the state, gained fame due to its architectural monuments. Gothic atmosphere, reigning on the churchyard, attracts filmmakers shooting mystical thrillers. In addition, the necropolis is the scene of many literary works, where the main characters are ghosts and vampires. For example, the famous Bram Stoker described in his novel "Dracula" the events that took place here.

And in the 70s of the last century, the Highgate Cemetery, whose history began two centuries ago, attracted the attention of newsmen who learned about the strange events that happened here.

The history of the appearance of a mystical place

In the XIX century, because of the growing population of places in small cemeteries around the churches, there were almost no places left in the city, and therefore seven pogosts outside of London were created so that the problem of burial of the dead did not turn into a sanitary disaster. They were private estates, and their owners demanded considerable sums for providing a place for the grave. The quickly becoming popular Highgate cemetery appeared in 1839 on the slopes of a hill called Highgate. The last refuge for the outstanding people of England is striking with Gothic monuments, which are real architectural masterpieces.

Necropolis, turned into a tropical forest

In 1975, the Highgate Cemetery, where people were buried regardless of their religious affiliation, was closed, as the company that owned them went bankrupt. Now its owner is a newly created charitable foundation, whose participants organize excursions and take care of abandoned graves. However, during the time when the courts and trials were going on, trees were planted on the territory of the cemetery, and their roots were damaged by numerous tombs. Currently, visitors see the churchyard, where people are rarely buried, the rainforest, frightening and mysterious.

The popular Highgate Cemetery (London, UK) is a unique place where no one struggles with the destructive effects of nature and time, but those who care for graves do not allow the process to go far.

Two parts of the cemetery

Initially, in the western part of the churchyard, the last shelter was found by English rich aristocrats, who paid about five thousand pounds for the erection of magnificent monuments after their death. In 1854 burials appeared in the east, and both sectors were once connected by an underground tunnel. The western necropolis with crypts and columbariums, forming complex architectural ensembles, surprises with unusual beauty and desolation. Many graves were covered with grass and moss, and because of the centuries-old trees intertwined with crowns, here eternal eternal twilight and the outlines of many tombstones are not visible. Some visitors who visited the Highgate Cemetery, whose description evokes a sense of curiosity, even feel someone's views.

Now the western part of the most prestigious burial place of the XIX century is closed for single visits to tourists. You can get here only as part of an organized excursion, which must be booked in advance. Wander through the well-groomed territory of the eastern sector of the most mysterious corner of London can be from 10 to 16 hours on all days, except for weekends.

Egyptian Alley

The famous Highgate Cemetery is a real oasis of peace and tranquility, a quiet place combining natural charm, majestic beauty of architectural monuments and a special mystical atmosphere. The rich did not spare money and bought plots for later burial, on which luxurious mausoleums were erected. Here, beautiful tombstones and crypts appeared, affecting the imagination of visitors.

Notable lords were fond of the ancient pyramids and other attributes of the afterlife in Egypt, and soon a whole site grew around the ancient cedar, planted before the appearance of the cemetery. Egyptian alley, the entrance to which cover the overgrown trees, leads to the Lebanese circle - a huge hill, surrounded by a ring of destroyed from time mausoleums. They are located below the ground level and diverge in different directions. There are a lot of empty lots here, as the hobby for Egyptian culture soon came to naught.

Pantheon of outstanding people who left a mark on history

At present, visitors are attracted by the gloomy atmosphere of the necropolis, which gives the impression of being abandoned, and the opportunity to see the graves of many celebrities. Here, more than 800 outstanding people have found peace, and the most famous "inhabitants" of the cemetery are Karl Marx and Michael Faraday. You can see the empty graves of Dickens, buried elsewhere, and Galsworthy, whose ashes are scattered over the earth.

Highgate Cemetery in London, turned into a museum in the open air, recently hosted the last star "guest" - the famous singer George Michael, who died at the end of last year. He was buried in a closed western sector of the churchyard, and relatives asked that the grave of the artist be expelled from the tourist's tour.

The stories that made the world famous Highgate Cemetery famous throughout the world

Vampires in our time are perceived as heroes of popular TV series, and few really believe in them. However, people used to refer to the existence of ghouls, who drink blood, with superstitious fear.

More than 35 years ago, all the editions of London were full of headlines about strange events taking place on the site of eternal rest. There were rumors that vampires live in the cemetery, which attack passers-by who did not have time to leave before dark. After the stories of eyewitnesses, interest to the necropolis wakes up, where many observe the appearance and mysterious disappearance of strange figures, and visitors discover the bloodless corpses of animals.

After numerous articles by journalists trying to find out if there are really bloodsuckers in fact, the Highgate Cemetery has become a place of real pilgrimage. Here came crowds of curious townspeople who dreamed of seeing a terrible ghoul. Immediately there was formed a whole group of volunteers, who began hunting for the terrible ghouls. People opened the crypts and pushed aspen cola into the remains of the deceased.

After one morning the body of a young woman was decapitated and half-burned, the police arrested vampire hunters, and the public demanded that they be severely punished for their abuse. After such "exploits" the relatives of the deceased immured all the entrances to the tombs of their loved ones.

A new surge of interest in the cemetery

It seemed that with time the hysteria passed, but in 2005 again there was talk of evil spirits inhabiting the churchyard. A married couple from Scotland, who came on a tour, heard a story about the cemetery horrors from a local boy. The spouses did not take their word for it, thinking that it was fiction for the visitors, and visited the infamous Highgate cemetery, where they met an elderly lady in old-fashioned clothes at the entrance. She acquainted the couple with the rules of visiting the necropolis and warned that it is forbidden to pronounce aloud the word "vampire".

However, it so happened that the tourist still violated the condition of staying in the cemetery, and the couple saw the odd trio, which appeared out of nowhere, consisting of a young man, a girl and a sad old woman. The man took the quickly retiring people to the video camera, and later discovered that there was nothing on the film, except for those who had fallen into the frame of the destroyed old vaults. And when the spouses asked the local residents about the woman who met them on the road, the townspeople learned in the description of the deceased several years ago the ticket-attendant of the churchyard.

Fiction or the truth?

Nobody knows what is true in this story, but what lies and the story of tourists seems like a fiction. However, many believe in the prescribed scenario, which was invented by workers of the churchyard, thus warming up interest in unusual sights. However, nobody explains the weirdness with videotape.

Whatever it was, but to this day is considered one of the most mystical areas of the capital of England, the legendary Highgate cemetery. The photo of an ancient necropolis, on which unnatural silence reigns, fully conveys its unusual beauty and evokes various emotions. Some people dream of getting into such an amazing place, wrapped in legends, while others prefer to avoid it.

A pacifying corner that evokes thoughts about the value of human life and the shortness of earthly life is worth a visit in order to experience the taste of life.