The Lafayette Cemetery #1 has been drawing crowds for its appearances in films such as Easy Rider and, most notably, in Anne Rice vampire novels. But the cemetery would be memorable even without cinematic and literary references for its unique above ground tombs make this ancient graveyard quite unlike the ones most tourists are used to seeing back home.
The city lays perilously close to sea level, requiring in the past that all graves had to remain unburied. Those that were foolishly placed in the earth floated right back up when rain or flooding occurred, often spilling out the deceased passengers of these makeshift boats. Because of this, many of these tombs have been enriched with finer design elements that may otherwise not have been bestowed on something headed below ground.
It's not entirely safe to visit the cemetery by yourself any time of the day, as muggings have happened far more frequently here than anywhere else in town. You might want to stick near groups of other people who are also meandering through the maze of tombs and mausoleums. Uncomfortable looking tour groups wander through the cemetary with regularity, as black clad teens lean up against tombs with a cigarette in hand posing as distraught artists or misunderstood vampires.