History and Facts of the Glasgow Necropolis

The Glasgow Necropolis is a sight to see because it has beautiful buildings and sculptures by all of the most famous architects of the time. This Victorian cemetery is near Glasgow Cathedral and holds the graves of about 50,000 people.

Table of Contents

The Merchants’ House bought the land where the Necropolis is in 1650. Architectural historian and architect James Stevens Curl said it was “literally a city of the dead.” Planning started in 1831, and the cemetery was Scotland’s first garden cemetery when it opened in 1833.

History and Facts of the Glasgow Necropolis — Glasgow Necropolis | © Rory/Flickr

Like most Victorian cemeteries, the Necropolis doesn’t have a planned grid layout. Instead, it looks like an unplanned park with many paths that branch off like veins. It has 3500 beautiful statues, mausoleums, and sculptures, many of which were made and designed by people like Alexander “Greek” Thomson, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, John Bryce, and David Hamilton. The wide range of building styles is part of what makes it so interesting.

The John Knox statue, which was built in 1825, was Scotland’s first permanent memorial to John Knox. It stood here before the cemetery was even made. One of the modern memorials is for babies who died before they were born. Another is for people who won the Victoria Cross in Glasgow.

The Glasgow Necropolis was modeled after the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which is the most visited cemetery in the world. It was built when Glasgow was known as “The Second City of the Empire.”

The “Bridge of Sighs,” which was designed by David Hamilton, looks like the stairs to heaven in Glasgow. It is at the entrance to the Necropolis. This bridge is a Scottish version of the Ponte Dei Sospiri in Venice. It crosses the Molendinar Burn and has seen a lot of funerals over the years, which is why it is called the “Sighing Bridge.”

The variety of people buried in the Glasgow Necropolis, including 13 Commonwealth service members from World War I and 5 from World War II, is almost as interesting as the building’s architecture, memorials, and 180 plant and tree species.

The Glasgow Necropolis is a time capsule of Glasgow’s rich historical past that is always a reminder of the past. Billy Connolly said that Glasgow is like Nashville, Tennessee, in that it doesn’t care much about the living but takes good care of the dead.

Topic: History and Facts of the Glasgow Necropolis

Join the “I Left My Heart in Scotland” in Our Community on Facebook. A place where members can be honest with each other, share their stories and travel photos, and try out a new way to see Scotland together.