Description of the attraction
Highgate Cemetery is located in the north of London, it is divided into two parts - east and west. The cemetery was opened in 1839 as part of the Magnificent Seven plan, which included the creation of seven new, modern cemeteries on the then outskirts of London. The population of London was rapidly increasing, and the cemeteries located within the city, mainly at the churches, could not accommodate the growing number of burials. There was a threat of epidemics.
Highgate Cemetery soon became a fashionable burial ground and a popular promenade. For the Victorian era, a special attitude towards death is characteristic, and therefore many grave monuments and tombs in the Gothic style appear in the cemetery. There are many trees, shrubs and flowers growing on the territory of the cemetery - no one planted or cultivated them on purpose. A variety of birds and animals are found here, including foxes.
The main architectural sights are the Egyptian alley and the Lebanese circle, in the center of which a huge Lebanese cedar grows, which gave the name to this section of the cemetery. The old part of the cemetery, where the oldest graves are located, is now open for visits only in organized groups due to the increased incidence of vandalism. The newer eastern part is open to all comers. Many famous people are buried here: Karl Marx, Mary Ann Evans - better known under the pseudonym George Eliot, John and Elizabeth Dickens - the parents of Charles Dickens, Michael Faraday, John Galsworthy and many others.
In the middle of the 20th century, the story of the "highgate vampire" became widely known: a vampire allegedly appeared in the cemetery, who got up from the coffin at night and drank the blood of young girls. It is not surprising that numerous "vampire hunters" and lovers of occult sensations in every possible way fueled interest in this story.
