Glenwood Cemetery, cemetery in Washington, D.C
Glenwood Cemetery is a 90-acre burial ground in Washington, D.C., established in the 1850s and laid out with winding paths through trees and monuments. The grounds display a mix of Victorian-era headstones and Art Nouveau-style markers, along with sculpted figures and ornate mausoleums scattered throughout the landscape.
The cemetery was founded in 1852 and was among the first in the United States to be operated for profit. Its designer, engineer Georges de la Roche, created the layout following the Rural Cemetery movement, which aimed to make burial grounds resemble natural gardens.
The cemetery was established as a place of remembrance and shows how families honored their loved ones across generations. The varied styles of monuments and markers reflect the changing tastes and personal beliefs that people expressed through their memorials.
The cemetery is open to the public and welcomes quiet walks beneath old trees to explore its history and art. The winding paths make it easy to navigate the grounds at your own pace and provide a pleasant place for reflection.
Following severe storms, local artists carved fallen trees on the grounds into wooden sculptures depicting angels and animals from biblical stories. These unexpected artworks give new life to dead trees and creatively blend the site's art tradition with nature.
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