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.

The main sights

• 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.

Before you go

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.