In the 16th and 17th centuries, plenty of rural parishes in Scotland utilised a communal coffin of sorts called a ‘common mortkist’, ‘bier’ or ‘parish coffin’.
Ye Olde Eco-Burial: The Trapdoor Coffin
Category: Europe
The Russian Gangster Cemetery
Russia's gangsters were never going to settle for a subtle headstone and floral border.
Big Surprises and Bigger Vaults at Laceby Cemetery
A village on the outskirts of Grimsby isn’t exactly the typical location for an enormous Norwegian funerary monument.
The Fertile Grave of Victor Noir
The frankly massive bulge in Noir’s trousers made his memorial a popular destination for women visiting Père Lachaise for over a century...
The Mosaic Grave of Rudolf Nureyev
Representative of the dancer’s ‘nomadic life,' Nureyev's Kilim rug is a phenomenal memorial to his talent.
“I decided to hide Charlie Chaplin’s body and solve my problems…”
On 12th December 1978, Roman Wardas, a 24-year old Polish refugee took to the stand in Switzerland, accused of stealing Chaplin’s body.
Love Me, Love My Dead Husband’s Calcified Heart
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was not simply a literary force, but a tragic, romantic, gothic icon whose exploits in sex and death put the rest of humanity to shame.
Aliens Over Nuremberg
At daybreak on April 14th, 1561, residents of Nuremberg Germany woke up to an alien aerial battle raging above their heads.
Going Underground: Berlin Cathedral Crypt
Ever have an existential crisis and hop on a plane to Germany to look at dead monarchs? Same mate, same.
The Grave of Clasped Hands: Love Conquering Death
It’s a twee little statement that love can conquer death, but one that rings romantically true in the adjoining graves of a Dutch Colonel and his aristocratic sweetheart.
Burials & Beyond 