Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, in the heart of the Garden District, is the more atmospheric and less visited alternative to the famous St. Louis cemeteries. Opened in 1833 to serve the American immigrants settling upriver from the Creole French Quarter, it is filled with the above-ground vaults and family tombs characteristic of New Orleans burial custom — here in a setting of ancient live oaks whose roots have buckled the paths and whose branches filter the light into shifting green patterns.
Many of the inscriptions tell a grim story: yellow fever killed thousands in the nineteenth century, and entire families are recorded dying within weeks of each other. The cemetery features in several of Anne Rice's vampire novels, and she is now buried here along with her husband. Entry is free; the cemetery is a quiet, unhurried place to spend an hour, especially at the Garden District end of a Magazine Street walk.