The 9 Most Unusual Cemeteries Around The World

Cemeteries have long held a curious place in popular culture. From the eerie graveyard scenes of "The Addams Family" to the claustrophobic underground passages of the horror film "As Above, So Below", they have provided filmmakers and storytellers with the perfect setting for things that go bump in the night. And it is easy to see why. With their weathered gravestones, mysterious inscriptions, forgotten stories, and centuries-old secrets, cemeteries often seem to have a life of their own, even after everyone in them has passed on.

But not every cemetery is quite the gloomy, monochrome setting that horror films would have us believe. Some are submerged beneath the sea, others have coffins suspended from towering cliffs, while one has an entire collection of ice cream flavours laid to rest. There is even a graveyard where the dead are remembered through colourful illustrations and witty epitaphs. From a pirate's much-debated grave to a final resting place for retired spacecraft, these unusual cemeteries around the world are as fascinating as they are unexpected. Just don't forget to watch where you step.

The Pirate's Cemetery: Saint-Paul, Réunion

What is a pirate cemetery without a little mystery, a missing treasure, and a grave that might not actually contain the person it commemorates? On the French island of Réunion, the Marine Cemetery of Saint-Paul is closely associated with the notorious Indian Ocean pirate Olivier Levasseur, better known as La Buse (The Buzzard).

Established in 1788, the cemetery was built after the town's earlier burial ground became overcrowded. La Buse, however, was executed by hanging in Saint-Paul in 1730, 58 years before the cemetery came into existence. The grave attributed to him is therefore a memorial rather than his actual resting place. But the pirate's legend lives on: just before his execution, he is said to have thrown a cryptogram into the crowd, declaring that his treasure would belong to whoever could decipher it, although the treasure has not been found yet. The cemetery also houses the remains of celebrated poet Leconte de Lisle, whose ashes were transferred here from Paris in 1977, along with those of poet Eugène Dayot and painter Arthur Grimaud.

Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, Vermont, USA

Death and ice cream are not two things you would ordinarily put in the same sentence, but Ben & Jerry's has found a rather sweet way of bringing them together. At its factory in Waterbury, Vermont, the company has a quirky little memorial dedicated to flavours that have been discontinued over the years. The physical Flavor Graveyard opened in 1997, beginning with just four retired flavours, including Dastardly Mash, Ethan Almond, Economic Crunch, and Tuskeegee Chunk. Today, its little granite headstones commemorate more than 35 fallen creations, each bearing the flavour's name, its years of existence, and a rather cheeky epitaph. Among the departed are Wavy Gravy, Holy Cannoli, and Fossil Fuel. The brand even held an actual funeral for its retired flavour What a Cluster in 2015, complete with mourners paying their respects. Talk about taking your last scoop seriously.

The Sunken Cemetery, Camiguin, Philippines

There are cemeteries you visit on foot, and then there is one where you need a boat to reach the graves. Off the coast of Catarman on the Philippine island of Camiguin, the Sunken Cemetery is marked by a giant white cross rising out of the sea. The graveyard originally belonged to the old settlement of Bonbon, which was swallowed by volcanic activity following the eruption of Mount Vulcan in 1871.

The cemetery, along with parts of the old town, eventually disappeared beneath the water. The cross that visitors see today is a later memorial, first erected in 1982 and subsequently replaced by the local government. At low tide, remnants of the submerged cemetery were once visible above the water, while divers can still spot traces of old tombstones beneath the surface.

The Spacecraft Cemetery, Point Nemo, South Pacific Ocean

What happens when a spacecraft has completed its mission and there is nowhere left to send it? Apparently, it gets a watery burial. In the remote South Pacific Ocean lies Point Nemo, the oceanic pole of inaccessibility and the place farthest from any land on Earth. Located approximately 2,688 km from the nearest land, the surrounding waters have become a designated re-entry zone for retired spacecraft and space stations. More than 260 spacecraft have been directed towards this broad region over the years, earning it the rather unusual nickname of the Spacecraft Cemetery.

Among its most famous former visitors is Russia's Mir space station, which spent 15 years in orbit before being deliberately deorbited on March 23, 2001, breaking apart as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific. Before you imagine a seabed filled with neatly arranged satellites, however, there is a catch: most spacecraft burn up during re-entry, while surviving fragments are scattered across the ocean. It is perhaps the only cemetery on this list where the deceased once used to travel at thousands of kilometres an hour above our heads.

The Merry Cemetery, Săpânța, Romania

A cemetery where people are remembered for their quirks, embarrassing habits, and sometimes questionable life choices might sound like the beginning of a rather awkward family reunion. But in Săpânța, a village in northern Romania, this is precisely what makes the Merry Cemetery so distinctive. Known locally as Cimitirul Vesel, it began taking its unusual form in the 1930s, when local woodcarver Stan Ioan Pătraș started creating brightly painted wooden crosses for the village's graves.

Painted predominantly in a distinctive shade known as Săpânța blue, the crosses feature illustrations depicting the deceased, their professions, everyday activities, and sometimes even the circumstances of their deaths. Each also carries a short, often humorous poem written in the local dialect. One particularly famous epitaph imagines a deceased mother-in-law returning home to give her son-in-law a hard time. Pătraș went on to create more than 800 such crosses over his lifetime, and even carved his own before his death in 1977. Here, death is not remembered through silence and sombre stone, but through colour, humour, and stories that refuse to be forgotten.

The Spirit House Cemetery, Eklutna, Alaska, USA

If you came across a cemetery filled with tiny, brightly painted houses, you might wonder whether you had accidentally wandered into a miniature village. At Eklutna Historical Park, near Anchorage in Alaska, these little structures are actually spirit houses built over graves. The tradition emerged from an unusual meeting of two belief systems: that of the Indigenous Dena'ina Athabascan people and the Russian Orthodox missionaries who arrived in the region during the nineteenth century. The Dena'ina traditionally cremated their dead, while the Orthodox Church encouraged burial. Over time, the community developed a practice that brought the two traditions together. Today, the dead are buried in the ground, and after a period of mourning, a small wooden house is placed over the grave to provide shelter for the spirit. Traditionally, these structures also held belongings the deceased might need in the afterlife, from clothing and food to personal objects. Their colours and decorations are chosen by families, making every little house distinctive.

Dargavs: The City Of The Dead, North Ossetia, Russia

With nearly a hundred stone crypts scattered across a hillside against the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains, Dargavs looks less like a cemetery and more like a village that has somehow been abandoned by the living. Often called the City of the Dead, this necropolis in North Ossetia consists of above-ground family tombs, many dating from the medieval period, with the earliest generally traced to around the fourteenth century. The small structures have steep slate roofs and multiple chambers, and families traditionally buried their deceased with clothing and personal belongings. Local folklore offers an even more unsettling explanation for the site: during devastating epidemics, particularly in the eighteenth century, infected villagers are said to have entered the crypts to isolate themselves, waiting for death while relatives passed food through small openings. The precise history of this practice is uncertain, but the legends have become part of Dargavs' identity.

The Hanging Coffins Of Sagada, Philippines

If you thought coffins belonged six feet underground, the Kankanaey people of Sagada in the Philippines' Mountain Province have a rather different idea. For generations, members of this Indigenous community have placed their deceased in wooden coffins secured to steep limestone cliffs or tucked into caves. The practice predates the arrival of the Spanish, although its precise beginnings are difficult to establish; some accounts trace it back more than 2,000 years.

Traditionally, the deceased are placed in a foetal position, which explains why many of the coffins are surprisingly small, sometimes measuring barely 1 m in length. There is also a spiritual belief behind the practice: placing the dead high above the ground is thought to bring them closer to their ancestral spirits. Others explain it as a way of protecting the remains from moisture and decay in the soil. While the tradition is now followed only occasionally, the weathered coffins hanging above the forested valley remain one of Sagada's most striking sights.

The Paris Catacombs, France

If you have watched the 2014 horror film "As Above, So Below", you might already have an idea of what awaits beneath the streets of Paris. The film holds a rather unusual distinction: it was the first production to receive permission to shoot inside the actual Paris Catacombs.

One of the world's most famous underground ossuaries, the Catacombs contain the remains of several million people. Their history goes back to the late eighteenth century, when overcrowded cemeteries and mounting public health concerns prompted authorities to find a new place for the city's dead. Abandoned limestone quarries beneath Paris were chosen, and the first transfers of human remains took place between 1785 and 1787. The site was consecrated as the Paris Municipal Ossuary in 1786 and opened to visitors in 1809. What makes it particularly unsettling is the way the bones are arranged: thousands of skulls and femurs form carefully organised walls along the underground passages. The Catacombs have welcomed some rather distinguished visitors, too, including the future King Charles X, Austrian Emperor Francis I, and Napoleon III. It is quite a different side of the City of Love, isn't it?

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