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Highgate Cemetery in London

Highgate was founded in 1839 as an alternative to  London's central graveyards, which included over-crowding, grave-robbing, and even body-snatching by medical schools in search of cadavers. Highgate was conceived as a sylvan retreat where death could be sentimentalized in the Victorian fashion--here the dead weren't really dead, only sleeping.

Highgate Cemetery in what was then suburban London is believed to be the site chosen by Bram Stoker when he created the restive resting place of the vampire Lucy Westenra in his novel Dracula.

Today visitors can see the last resting place of many famous individuals: Karl Marx, Michael Faraday,Christina Rossetti, George Elliot and many others. The cemetery is no longer used for burial and many parts have become rather overgrown, giving an eerie feel to much of the site. It is fair to say that the place has an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in London!

Click here to visit a great site containing stories about Highgate Cemetery.