St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
Above-ground tombs behind an iron gate, where tourists still play a century-old wishing game.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans centers on a century-old ritual at the Glapion family tomb, where visitors scratched three X's and shouted a wish to the ghost of voodoo queen Marie Laveau. It follows that tradition through decades of scratching with keys and lipstick, an overnight vandalism in 2013 that forced the Archdiocese to hire a conservator, and the rule change that followed. Faint ghosts of old X's still linger under the new plaster, a few rows from a much newer grave drawing its own visitors.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
Above-ground Catholic cemetery of grand tombs where a pardoned pirate rests beneath a Masonic emblem.
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
Above-ground brick tombs where families reuse the same vault after a year and a day of decomposition.
Metairie Cemetery
Egyptian-style marble pyramid guarded by a sphinx, built by a grieving father as a family tomb.
New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
Two-room collection of Vodou altars, gris-gris talismans and skulls tied to Haitian zombification folklore.
St. Louis Cathedral
Twin-towered Spanish colonial cathedral rebuilt after fire, its beloved priest buried inside the sanctuary.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & International Shrine of St. Jude
Mislabeled shipping crate gave rise to a saint devoted to urgent prayers, prized by Catholics and Voodoo practitioners alike.