City of the Dead and Its Living Neighborhoods

Cities that break all the rules

Chapter 1

Life inside a single building and deep underground

Chapter 2

The strange towns split by international borders

Chapter 3

Cities built for the departed and the spiritual

Chapter 4

Cities with the world's most extreme rules

Ch 3 · Cities built for the departed and the spiritual

schopenhauer Colma

A thousand resting souls for every living friend, We moved them south to where the city limits end.

schopenhauer The living neighborhoods inside Cairo's Qarafa cemetery.

Hallstatt and the bone house of necessity

schopenhauer Due to a severe lack of grave space, the alpine village of Hallstatt traditionally exhumed bodies to paint and stack their skulls in a "Beinhaus."

Fun Fact

Colma's humor: The official motto of the living residents of Colma, California, is a cheeky nod to their unusual demographics: "It’s great to be alive in Colma!"

Fengdu and the gateway to the underworld

schopenhauer Perched on Ming Mountain, this ancient temple complex is designed to mimic the Chinese concept of Diyu, the underworld.

Glossary

necropolis (noun)
A large cemetery, especially one belonging to an ancient city. Colma, California, was incorporated in 1924 to house San Francisco's deceased, where graves outnumber the living residents.

Quiz

On which mountain is the mythological Fengdu Ghost City located in China?

Gossip

Would you live in Colma, California?

Cities built for the departed and the spiritual

BETA

schopenhauer Match these spiritual sanctuaries to learn how different cultures built cities for the departed.

schopenhauer Colma, the California town built for the dead of San Francisco

Quiz

Approximately what is the ratio of dead to living residents in Colma, California?

schopenhauer The painted skulls inside the Hallstatt Charnel House

Quiz

In Fengdu Ghost City, China, what is the purpose of crossing the "Bridge of Helplessness"?

schopenhauer Fengdu stands as China's legendary gateway to the underworld.

Quiz

What is the name of the massive, inhabited historic cemetery complex in Cairo, Egypt?

Quiz

Which famous American lawman and gambler is buried in the Hills of Eternity cemetery in Colma, California?

Quiz

Why did the city of San Francisco evict almost all of its dead to Colma, California, in the early 20th century?

Quiz

Which flower is most commonly painted on the skulls in Hallstatt's Beinhaus to symbolize love?

Quiz

Why did the residents of Hallstatt, Austria, paint and store human skulls in a bone house?