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Highgate Cemetery, opened in
1839, is London's most famous and exotic burial ground.
The magnificent graves and tombs perfectly reflect high Victorian
taste.
For many years the cemetery lay
neglected but was rescued from further decline by a voluntary
group known as the Friends of Highgate Cemetery.
The West Cemetery, which can
only be visited on one of the excellent guided tours, has
many fine restored tombs.
Highlights of the romantic wilderness
of catacombs and monuments include the Egyptian Avenue, a
street of family vaults based on the style of ancient Egyptian
tombs, and the Circle of Lebanon, a ring of vaults topped
by a cedar tree.
Amongst the eminent Victorians
buried in the West Cemetery is the chemist Michael Faraday.
The East Cemetery is rather drab in contrast but is still
notable as the final resting place of Karl Marx, who lies
beneath a vast black bust of himself.
The novelist George Eliot (real
name Mary Ann Evans) is also buried here
Admission charge
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London
Archway, then C11, 272 bus
