ST. LOUIS CEMETERIES #1 AND #2 COMBO TOUR
2 Hours
Small Group Tour
10:30am Daily
ST. LOUIS CEMETERIES: LIVED LIVES LOCKED IN HISTORY ABOVE GROUND
In New Orleans oldest existing cemetery, St. Louis #1, you will discover the grave sites of New Orleans’ famous like Paul Morphy, the world’s greatest chess player, Marie Laveaux, The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, living Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage and many, many, others . . .
St. Louis #2 was the first cemetery in the city known to have specific areas designated exclusively for African Americans. While in #2 we will spend the majority of our time in Square 3 which contains the largest number of monuments in one place noting the achievements and struggles of Black Americans in the 19th century.
Find out on our St. Louis Cemeteries Combo Tour why, as New Orleans grew, a way to bury large numbers of people had to be found. Learn about our unique burial customs, our above ground tombs and vaults, and what led to the evolution of New Orleans’ Cities of the Dead?
LET THE DEAD SPEAK! HISTORICAL NARRATIVES OF STRUGGLE, ACTIVISM AND ACHIEVEMENT
St. Louis Cemetery #2 is a vital symbol of Creole history and community. Along its aisles we will find pirates, dualists, nuns, war heroes, musicians, politicians and entrepreneurs all resting together. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail, St. Louis Cemetery #2 is located in the Faubourg Tremé, a neighborhood developed in the early 19th century and occupied predominantly by the city’s “free people of color“.
Opened in 1823 St. Louis Cemetery #2 was originally planned to replace St. Louis #1 (1789), though #1 was never closed. A much larger cemetery than St. Louis #1, #2 covers 3 Squares or city blocks. Tomb design, the carved sculpture, and the ironwork surrounding the tombs in St. Louis Cemeteries 1 and 2 comprise some of the finest collections of antebellum mortuary art found anywhere.
Due to acts of vandalism and tomb desecration entrance to the St. Louis Cemetery #1 has been restricted by the Church. You can’t visit the Cemetery on your own, you must enter with a Licensed New Orleans Tour Guide authorized by the New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries. The Savvy Native is a Registered Tour Operator for the New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries.
Meet us at Backatown Coffee, 301 Basin Street – the starting point for your St. Louis Cemeteries #1 and #2 Combo Tour. You will receive a detailed confirmation including date, time and map. Thank You!
The Savvy Native is a group of experienced local tour guides who were either born in New Orleans or wish they had been.
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