Saturday, November 08, 2014

I see dead people

Well, I see their graves. These are some of the graves in the churchyard in Montréal. There are very old ones and very recent ones. I noticed some of the dates of death were in the 1960s and I saw one that was from 2001. This is not an old, abandoned cemetery.

Newer tombs of fresh granite in the foreground.

I went into the church to see what it looked like and to take some pictures while Ken stayed outside with Callie. Once I was done, I looked after the dog while Ken went inside. He took more photos inside than I did. I had my 50mm lens on the camera and it's very restrictive in indoor situations.

Older headstones.

Churches are churches. I'm not religious at all, so I see them as architecture and cultural artifacts. Some French people see them that way as well, but others keep the faith, as it were. Most churches in France are more than historical monuments, they are living buildings with congregations that care for them as well as they can.

4 comments:

  1. I love visiting graveyard they tell us so much about our ancestors. The graves look the same at my place.

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  2. As a long time Find a Grave.com volunteer (I take pictures of gravestones and post them to the Internet) I found this post of be most interesting.

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  3. Where are people buried nowadays? I don't think I have ever seen photos of graveyards in Europe other than the types here: old and apparently not being actively added to.

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  4. gosia, it can be very interesting.

    ron, cool. I've read your posts about that organization and think it's a great use of the internet to help people out.

    michael, the cemeteries are still in use. When they "fill up," as it were, new ones are built. Our little town has two, one very much newer than the other. A friend of ours was (sad to say) buried there five years ago. French cemeteries tend to be packed tight and not sprawling parks like many American cemeteries.

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