Morne-a-l'Eau Cemetery

The cemetery at Morne-à-l'Eau climbs a hillside in tiers of above-ground tombs, most of them faced in black and white tiles laid in a checkerboard, which gives the whole slope a graphic pattern visible from the road. The style spread through the twentieth century and became the local convention. On 1 November families come to clean the graves and set candles on them, and after dark the whole hillside is lit.

What you actually see

• The checkerboard tombs - black and white tiled graves stepping up the slope.
• The tiered layout - the cemetery climbing the hillside in terraces.
• The Toussaint candles - the hillside lit by families on 1 November.
• The pattern from the road - the graphic effect of the whole slope.

When to go

1 November is when the cemetery is lit with candles and is the reason many people come. December to April is otherwise the driest. Mornings are quietest.

Honest expectations

It is a working cemetery and families are often visiting graves; photography needs discretion. The Toussaint evening is crowded and parking is difficult. There is no interpretation.

Nearby

Morne-a-l'Eau is beside it, and Les Grands Fonds are south.