Saint Roch’s Campo Santo (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Dan writes to recommend this cemetery:

I too have been to both St. Louis #1 and #2, and while they’re the famous cemeteries in New Orleans, they’re not the prettiest. My favorite one is Saint Roch’s Campo Santo, which is located inland from the Bywater area and down-river from the Treme. It’s on St. Roch street. It’s small, 1 square block, but contains some truly amazing grave sculptures and ironwork; very picturesque! The 14 stations of the cross are done in near-life sized marble sculpture, and inset into the walls surrounding the cemetery. It also has a small very creepy chapel dedicated to St. Roch. The altar is set atop a bloodied corpse of Jesus, while off to the side of the altar there is a small antechamber filled with syncretic christian/animist offerings to various Voodoo saints. It is well worth the visit!

I don’t know how it fared after Katrina. I was there in 2002 and made a short black and white movie about the cemetery, spending a couple days in filming there in complete safety. As with most cemeteries in NOLA, it’s owned and maintained by the Catholic Church.