The Toronto Necropolis is one of the city’s oldest cemeteries! Established in 1850 it features some beautiful Victorian buildings and headstones, as well as a ton of prominent figures who have been buried there. I don’t know how I managed to not visit this cemetery in the almost 15 years I’ve lived in the city! Here are some photo highlights from a walk my friend and I did through this lovely cemetery and chapel.

The gates are beautiful carved wood in the style of High Victorian Gothic, vines cascade over the stone of the tiny chapel at the entrance. Inside the chapel is a small space for funeral services and engraved memorial markers. The stained glass window fills the room with a warm glow.

Inside the cemetery are over 50,000 graves many of which date back to the early 1900s. Among them are Toronto’s first mayor and many other prominent individuals. The cemetery is still open for burials.

There are wonderful examples of Victorian funeral sculpture and grave markers throughout the cemetery.

This summer I have been exploring all sorts of corners of the city (not just cemeteries). It’s strange how one can live in a place for ages and not have visited so many parts of it. If you are in Toronto and interested in Victorian funeral customs and aesthetic the Necropolis has some stunning examples and is worth a look. 🙂

-Taeden