This is the Egyptian Revival Gateway to Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. What is the Quincy connection you ask? You may have guessed that this Gatehouse was made of Quincy Granite for a mere sum of $9,500 in 1842. The designer, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, designed this Gateway to be imposing, enduring, sacred, and sublime. I don't know that this picture does it justice but it is all those things.
Mt. Auburn Cemetery began the "rural" cemetery movement out of which grew America's public parks. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is recognized as one of the country's most significant cultural landscapes that was founded in 1831 and modeled after Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
If you have an interest in trees, birds, sculpture, monuments, granite carving, walking or visiting the final resting place of many famous residents like Charles Bulfinch, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Winslow Homer, Buckminster Fuller, Amy Lowell, Fannie Farmer, or art patron, Isabella Stewart Gardner, to name only a few, this is a "must visit".
Numerous monuments and gravestones were made with Quincy granite here. Come back tomorrow to see the incredible Gothic Revival style chapel that Quincy architect Gridley Bryant designed along with Dr. Jacob Bigelow. Also visit my compardre's blog, Clulessinboston for his take on this special place.
4 comments:
Hey, Slim, is that Quincy taking the photograph in your photograph?
Oops, I meant to ask if that was Clueless? Sorry.
You are one sharp feline, brattcat. Yes, I thought that not so "Clueless" gave the gate some scale.
Without sounding morbid, visiting this cemetery is a wonderful way to spend a few hours. Did you happen to notice the old turn of the century monument business across from the entrance ? Yet another interesting cemetery is Forest Hills in Boston where they have art tours and concerts.
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