Gur-i Amir, Samarkand

Gur-i Amir, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Visited September 2008

The Gur-i Amir is the mausoleum of Timur, historically known as Tamerlane or Timurlane, who died in 1405 CE. Tamerlane was a great Persian ruler and conqueror, who founded the Timurid Dynasty and Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia.

Although the building is greatly restored, you can see from the shape and decoration how it became the influence for later tombs in Asia, in particular those of Mughal India (such as the Taj Mahal).

The mausoleum contains the tombs not only of Tamerlane, but also two of his sons, two of his grandsons and his teacher, and it was the family crypt of the Timurid Dynasty.

The mausoleum has wonderful tiled decoration in vivid blues and greens. Much of it was restored during the period Uzbekistan was part of the USSR (during this time, Tamerlane was exhumed in 1941 and reburied in the mausoleum in 1942).

A lovely place - if you go to Samarkand, then do make sure you get to this site as part of your visit.

Persian manuscript showing Tamerlane on a throne.

Hither Green Cemetery, London

Hither Green Cemetery, Lewisham, London

Visited January 2016

Hither Green Cemetery opened in 1873, and retains the ornamental entrance gates and pair of chapels although the dissenters chapel is now out of use, falling into disrepair and fenced off. The oldest part of the cemetery around the chapels is slightly overgrown, and has a few large monuments. It was later extended but the new area is a rather dull grid of paths and gravestones, with few trees. Adjacent to the cemetery is Hither Green Crematorium, which opened in 1956. One area is set aside for war graves and the war memorial, including a memorial to the pupils and teachers of Sandhurst Road School, who died when the school was hit by a bomb in 1943.

The cemetery is still in use, with modern burials among the Victorian ones - the most recent I saw was only a few days old. This means that even on a grey Sunday the cemetery is busy with cars of grave owners, and a photographer may get a few funny looks. 

As well as the graves, the cemetery is known as one of the main roosts of the parakeets which have made south east London their home - the rows of lombardy poplars in particular are full of their shrieks, and flashes of green can be seen flying between the trees. 

 

Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand

Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Visited September 2008

The Shah-i-Zinda (literally "The living king") necropolis in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, includes mausoleums and other buildings from the 11th to 19th centuries CE.  Legend says that a cousin of the prophet Muhammad was buried there, although there's no trace of anything relating to him now. 

There are three sets of buildings, all on a steep hill on the outskirts of Samarkand, connected by arched and domed passages. Over 20 buildings form the complex, with a number decorated with wonderful blue and green tiles on the walls, interiors and the domed roofs. Most of the buildings date from the 14th-15th centuries, with only bases and some headstones of the earlier buildings remaining.

Should you find yourself here, make sure you've got at least half a day free for exploring - each building is decorated in a different way, and you'll need a good guidebook or tour guide to at least introduce you to the site. It costs about $10 to get in (maybe a little more now) but if you've traveled all the way to Central Asia you won't want to miss this place!

 

 

St Martin's Gardens, Camden, London

St Martin's Gardens, Camden, London
Visited January 2016

This quiet garden, less than 10 minutes walk from the busy area around Camden Town tube station, was the burial ground for parishioners of the church of St Martin In the Fields (at Trafalgar Square) from 1802 to 1856. It was subsequently cleared and opened as a garden in 1889.

A few table tombs survive in various states, along with some gravestones along two walls (one set is in the nature conservation area and subsequently inaccessible). Most of the inscriptions are illegible. On an overcast winter day it wasn't very busy, but there's not much to see and the landscaping isn't all that exciting, so I wouldn't go out of my way to visit again. But if you do go, look out in one corner for the tree roots which have gravestones so intertwined that they're inseparable. 

And I have no idea why there's a cactus in a pot on one of the stones...

Gairloch Old Burial Ground, Scotland

Gairloch Old Burial Ground, Wester Ross, Scotland

visited September 2012

Just south of the village (or is it a town?) of Gairloch in Wester Ross is the old burial ground. It's between the road and the beach, and indeed there's a path to the beach through it (which is how I got there). It's been in use for a number of centuries, but sadly I didn't have time to poke around it - I was headed for a walk on the beach with elderly parents so no stopping! Most of the grave markers seem to date from the 19th and 20th centuries, although no doubt there are older ones to be found if you've got time to go looking.

It's a bit of a remote place to just bump into (see the photo below taken from Gairloch itself to get an idea of the surroundings), but should you be on the west coast of Scotland, maybe on your way to Ullapool or Inverewe Gardens, then do stop here for a wander round the graveyard and a walk on the unspoilt beach too.

View from Gairloch

Newmachar Kirkyard in the snow

Newmachar Kirkyard, Aberdeenshire

Visited December 2009

I've previously blogged about this churchyard in the village I grew up in, here.  But as it's winter, I thought I'd share this photo of it in the snow, which I took a few years ago, with the churchyard looking lovely in the winter light and snow.

The Glasgow Necropolis

Glasgow Necropolis

Visited September 2012

The Glasgow Necropolis is the rather glorious name given to the main Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, located right by Glasgow Cathedral. It was opened in 1832 as a garden cemetery, although the statue of John Knox which looks over the cemetery was already in place then. The cemetery is on a shallow hill, with the main mausoleums to the great and the good at the top. Parts of the cemetery seem rather modern and, in that Scots way, a bit dour, but there are some splendid carvings and monuments to be seen. Many of Glasgow's great and good from the Victorian and Edwardian periods are here, and it's easy to spend a few hours wandering around the site - even on a sunny summer's day it wasn't very busy. Parts of it are rather landscaped - at the top of the hill it's all mown lawns and fancy tombs, while at the bottom it's more overgrown (although not nearly as much as in some cemeteries I've visited, not by a long shot).

The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis run regular tours of the site, and there's also a heritage trail, available on this site https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8104, which is well worth following.

Team up a visit to the cemetery with a visit to the Cathedral and to St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life for a full day out and a spot of spiritual awakening too!