I n most cities, architecture is for the living. It is a well established fact that New Orleans isn't like other cities. The Big Easy's best architecture is reserved for those who have died. Saint Louis Cemetery Number One is one of a number of cemeteries where the dead are buried above ground in oven vaults. There are so many people buried here that the actual walls of the cemetery are the final resting place of hundreds of people. It was the Spanish governor Esteban Miro who came up with the idea of putting people in the walls. Burial in the ground was frequently a soggy affair since much of the city lies below sea level. The wet, rotting corpses were believed to be responsible for outbreaks of a number of diseases including dengue fever, typhoid, malaria, and yellow fever. This act to preserve the public health has turned into one of the city's biggest attractions. Millions of people visit the cemeteries every year to gaze at the old and the new. The cemeteries have been in use for over 200 years and are still being used today. Newer tombs are shiny marble. Some soar 20 or 30 feet high with room for generations of family members, plus elaborate reliefs and status. Older ones are decaying brick covered with plaster. In a few cases these older tombs have been maintained through a perpetual trust, or restored through the efforts of local preservationists. Very often the original graves have completely disintegrated, leaving only a stone slab, a pile of rubble, and a rusting cross to mark the place where someone's loved one is buried.
