The metropolis of Greater London in the United Kingdom is the largest in Europe and covers a vast area of some 625 square miles (1620 sq km) and a population of 7 million souls. It is home to some of the world’s most prestigious tourist attractions such as Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament, London Zoo and a great many more. However, dig a little deeper and you will find a few hidden gems that are not as widely known but well worth a visit.

One such hidden place in London is Highgate Cemetery, a spectacularly creepy overgrown Victorian cemetery which is home to some of the most incredible catacombs, mausoleums, obelisks and vaults spread across a total of thirty seven acres. The graveyard is the final resting place of a large number of noteworthy and famous people including the incredible monument above the grave of Karl Marx.

Marx was a nineteenth century Prussian philosopher and political economist and most widely known as the “father of communism”.  The Marx family had moved to London in 1849 and Karl remained there until his death on March 14, 1883 and he was buried at Highgate Cemetery on the seventeenth of March. At that time the family grave was a simple affair, rather plain but with a stone slab to one end. In 1954 the tombstone was replaced by a bold monument commissioned by the Communist Party of Great Britain which was topped by a exquisite bust of Marx. Sadly some believed the the original, rather humble, tomb was more suitable and in 1970 there was an unsuccessful  attempt made to blow up the monument.

There are many other famous folk buried in Highgate including, the family of Charles Dickens, Sir Leslie Stephen, George Eliot, J. W. Cross, C. H. Newton, Dr S.Birch, Christina Rossetti, G. Wombwell, Michael Faraday, Julius Beer, John Lobb, James Selby, six Lord Mayors of London, the famous bare knuckle fighter Tom Sayers and many, many more famous people. Highgate proved extemely popular with London’s upper class society folk who spent small fortunes on lavishly adorning their graves.

The Victorians celebrated their global successes by building fantastic public buildings influenced by the histories of many of the countries they had incorporated into the British Empire. Highgate cemetery was the finest of the ‘Magnificent Seven” cemeteries built in London in the mid nineteenth century. One of the most intriguing, and most often photographed, places to be found within the graveyard, is the Egyptian Avenue which leads onto the amazing Circle of Lebanon.

The entrance to the Egyptian Avenue is a striking gateway with two tall pillars on either side. Along each side of the enclosed avenue are mausoleums each housing twelve coffins. Once through the avenue you enter the Circle of Lebanon which is two rings, housing more mausoleums, encircling an ancient Lebanon cedar tree.

Throughout Highgate Cemetery you will find amazing examples or memorial art which include excellent examples of gothic sculptures which include weeping angels, a life size lion, pets such as dogs and the incredible statue of James Selby, the coachman who held the record for the fastest coach trip from London to Brighton and back.

If you are planning a vacation to London why not consider staying in a hotel near Highgate Cemetery? It is possible to find accommodation only a couple of kilometers away, set in quiet areas of London and yet only about twenty minutes from the city center where you can enjoy the more conventional tourist attractions of Great Britain.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Visiting London. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.