Photos from Mt. Calvaire Cemetery
May. 12th, 2012 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elabyI keep wanting to update my journal to tell you about LIFE and the HOUSE and to PARTICIPATE IN THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE WITH MY FRIENDS, but then I remember that my job has been such that I've worked overtime every day for the past month, and when I get home, I'm so tired I'm lucky if I can unpack a box or make dinner. But Monday last, when Rachel was at her knitting group, I walked over to the cemetery across the street and took some pictures.
Our street has three cemeteries on it. The closest one, Mt. Calvaire, is newish (as in the oldest dates of death are circa 1855), flat as a football field, and arranged in perfect lines. There's another tiny one that's also pretty new in the center of where three streets make a triangle. The last one, farther down, which I haven't explored yet, is old and rolling, shadowed by trees and filled with moss-covered obelisks. It's reportedly full of the graves of members of secret societies. I can't wait to go there XD
Statues like these flank the entrance to the cemetery. There must have been some kind of program where you could donate a statue in someone's name, because there were lots of identical ones dedicated to different people. I'm not sure who this is, but she her clothing has some impressive drapery.
Here's the one on the other side of the entrance. She's set her wreath down, I see.
St. Anne, teaching someone how to read, it looks.
St. Pierre. He has keys! It just hit me that he's probably St. Peter. #captainobvious
St. Paul, with a sword. I met a guy walking his dogs in the cemetery who said you could tell what all the saints stood for because of what they were holding. I think I'd need to know more about Christianity to make an educated guess.
St. Jean! Jean d'Arc, maybe? If so, this one's for you,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_melisande_ :) Maybe she has a candle? She also has a really intricately carved shawl.
St. Thomas has a saw.
St. Simon has a... saw... as well? And bare feets!
This is kind of a cool shape for a gravestone.
St. Martin has armor, and unlike every other male saint here, no beard! Interesting.
I liked this carving of Mary. This is one of the few gravestones in this cemetery that doesn't feature a French name.
Look, it's me! I thought it was cool how shiny and reflective this one was.
There's a hill at the back of the cemetery, and this is the view from partway up it. It's a very well-manicured place, with lots of cypress trees. I spent much of my time there trying to remember what kind of trees they were, which entailed reciting a lot of poetry (first it was "My shroud of white stuck all with yew, oh prepare it" from Twelfth Night, but I wasn't satisfied with that - I knew the name of the tree appears in Poe's "Ulalume" but I couldn't remember past the first stanza.)
Poor armless angel. CLAMP-worthy wings, though.
She's lost a hand too but at least she's still got one. And a very nice tree to stand in front of.
Obligatory art shot.
This one's very pretty. I also like the branches in the corner.
So pretty I took lots of pictures!
I appreciate his gentle expression.
Many of the gravestones were in French.
Uh, so, this one.
I really don't know why anyone would immortalize the vehicle of their child's accidental death on his gravestone! But if it made them feel better, whatever. It's such a bizarre thing that it makes me think of all kinds of weird explanations, like that the railroad company was forced to pay for the creation of a monument but insisted that they put an advertisement on it.
Unfortunately the text below the names is too small and worn to read.
I took a picture of this one because the name "Exzilda" is the coolest thing I've ever seen.
St. Marie (Mary, I'm guessing) also with very pretty fabric.
PATIENCE ON A MONUMENT. Can you tell I was thinking about Twelfth Night a lot that day?
Here's the whole monument.
This is how I know the name of the cemetery. There are also the Stations of the Cross shown in pictures along the path up the hill. Rather a well-thought-out cemetery overall.
Another book-themed stone.
It was a very peaceful, quiet place. You could tell it was taken care of well. I enjoyed walking around it and calming down after my work day.
Our street has three cemeteries on it. The closest one, Mt. Calvaire, is newish (as in the oldest dates of death are circa 1855), flat as a football field, and arranged in perfect lines. There's another tiny one that's also pretty new in the center of where three streets make a triangle. The last one, farther down, which I haven't explored yet, is old and rolling, shadowed by trees and filled with moss-covered obelisks. It's reportedly full of the graves of members of secret societies. I can't wait to go there XD
Statues like these flank the entrance to the cemetery. There must have been some kind of program where you could donate a statue in someone's name, because there were lots of identical ones dedicated to different people. I'm not sure who this is, but she her clothing has some impressive drapery.
Here's the one on the other side of the entrance. She's set her wreath down, I see.
St. Anne, teaching someone how to read, it looks.
St. Pierre. He has keys! It just hit me that he's probably St. Peter. #captainobvious
St. Paul, with a sword. I met a guy walking his dogs in the cemetery who said you could tell what all the saints stood for because of what they were holding. I think I'd need to know more about Christianity to make an educated guess.
St. Jean! Jean d'Arc, maybe? If so, this one's for you,
_melisande_ :) Maybe she has a candle? She also has a really intricately carved shawl.St. Thomas has a saw.
St. Simon has a... saw... as well? And bare feets!
This is kind of a cool shape for a gravestone.
St. Martin has armor, and unlike every other male saint here, no beard! Interesting.
I liked this carving of Mary. This is one of the few gravestones in this cemetery that doesn't feature a French name.
Look, it's me! I thought it was cool how shiny and reflective this one was.
There's a hill at the back of the cemetery, and this is the view from partway up it. It's a very well-manicured place, with lots of cypress trees. I spent much of my time there trying to remember what kind of trees they were, which entailed reciting a lot of poetry (first it was "My shroud of white stuck all with yew, oh prepare it" from Twelfth Night, but I wasn't satisfied with that - I knew the name of the tree appears in Poe's "Ulalume" but I couldn't remember past the first stanza.)
Poor armless angel. CLAMP-worthy wings, though.
She's lost a hand too but at least she's still got one. And a very nice tree to stand in front of.
Obligatory art shot.
This one's very pretty. I also like the branches in the corner.
So pretty I took lots of pictures!
I appreciate his gentle expression.
Many of the gravestones were in French.
Uh, so, this one.
I really don't know why anyone would immortalize the vehicle of their child's accidental death on his gravestone! But if it made them feel better, whatever. It's such a bizarre thing that it makes me think of all kinds of weird explanations, like that the railroad company was forced to pay for the creation of a monument but insisted that they put an advertisement on it.
Unfortunately the text below the names is too small and worn to read.
I took a picture of this one because the name "Exzilda" is the coolest thing I've ever seen.
St. Marie (Mary, I'm guessing) also with very pretty fabric.
PATIENCE ON A MONUMENT. Can you tell I was thinking about Twelfth Night a lot that day?
Here's the whole monument.
This is how I know the name of the cemetery. There are also the Stations of the Cross shown in pictures along the path up the hill. Rather a well-thought-out cemetery overall.
Another book-themed stone.
It was a very peaceful, quiet place. You could tell it was taken care of well. I enjoyed walking around it and calming down after my work day.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-05-12 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-12 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-12 10:12 pm (UTC)Looks like some of the gravestones are rather ancient. Is that so?
The graveyard near the place where I live looks kinda similiar, only without the awesome statues and most of the gravestones are rather plain (no book shape for example :) )
Thanks for sharing!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-13 01:54 am (UTC)St. Thomas, why so baleful?
Maybe the saws are...scrolls torn in half lengthwise? They would look like scrolls to me if they didn't have saw teeth. (Omg now you've just made me think of a potential movie concept for Saw VIII. Cemetary saints go bad and come to life! and massacre the living with saws! Oh gosh. I don't think that's what the sculptors had intended viewers to think about.)
I used to have an icon of a stone angel but her face was streaked with black and it was pretty depressing. So you get dark Nick Cave instead!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-13 12:14 pm (UTC)Most of the graveyards I've seen don't have interestingly shaped graves either, so this was really cool!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-13 12:15 pm (UTC)Hahaha that's an awesome concept XD
no subject
Date: 2012-05-14 08:02 pm (UTC)I think there are some really interesting representations of the saints in this cemetery, I can tell you what little I know about them if you want to keep reading.
Saint Jean: I think that St. Jean is actually meant to be John the Evangelist… it’s difficult to say, but if it was Joan of Arc, it would probably say S. Jeanne, and that stylized shield down near the bottom would have her coat of arms on it, the eagle, on the other hand, is the symbol used for St. John. Also, he’s holding what looks like a scroll/paper in his hand, which usually shows some connection to the gospels or spreading the word of God. Still, it’s an interesting statue, I don’t think any of the apostles show up in art as young men all that often, but I suppose St. John could be the exception.
Saint Anne: I actually have no idea why Saint Anne is holding a book, but there are many pieces of art that have Saint Anne showing her daughter, Mary, a book, or maybe teaching her how to read. This is a strange representation of Mary, though. Normally her head would be covered, or there would be something more feminine about her clothing and hair. I wonder if for some reason this is meant to be Saint Anne with her grandson and not her daughter.
Saint Paul: I already mentioned the reasons for carving a saint holding a scroll or a piece of paper, the sword, on the other hand is a symbol of his martyrdom, he holds a sword because he was killed by the sword. I know that seems a little gruesome, but it’s meant to remind people of how these early martyrs suffered for their faith.
Saint Simon: The saw is a symbol of his martyrdom, supposedly he was sawn in half. Ouch.
Saint Thomas: I have no idea why he’s holding a saw. If this is Saint Thomas the Apostle, he should be holding a spear as a symbol of his martyrdom, or something like a carpenter’s square to show his role in building churches. I don’t’ think any other Saint Thomas was killed by a saw, either, an axe, maybe. I don’t know what’s going on here! I suppose a saw would come in handy when building churches...
Saint Martin: One of my favorites. Unlike Saint John, who I think was shown clean-shaven purely as a symbol of youth, I’m pretty sure that Saint Martin is shown without a beard because he was a member of the Roman Army, and Roman men, at least at this time, rarely (if ever) grew beards.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-14 11:36 pm (UTC)St. John, DUH. French does tend to have gendered name endings XD That didn't even occur to me because he had no beard! I bet what he's holding is a scroll, you're right.
St. Anne's the only one with shoes. I wonder what that means (if anything). And I was wondering if the kid with her was a little boy, so maybe it is supposed to be Jesus and not Mary? I was wondering about why St. Thomas had a saw, too, only because St. Simon already had one and I didn't think they would give different saints the same symbol right next to each other in the graveyard (although the people organizing this are probably not as OCD as I am). St. Martin is fascinating! I was thinking he might be Roman owing to the clothes, but I wasn't sure. Thank you for telling me all about them!