Grave Undertakings: Death in Boston

Explore three of downtown Boston's burying grounds on this walking tour from Boston By Foot. Learn about the customs surrounding death and dying in Puritan New England. Walk amongst the dead, and learn of religious views, practices, symbolism, and traditions of death in Boston.

The tour begins in King's Chapel Burying Ground where you will learn the traditions of a Puritan funeral. See the gravestone art of the Charlestown Carver and see how he influenced other gravestone carvers in later years.

In the Granary Burying Ground you will see the oldest gravestone in downtown Boston and find out about how the symbols on the gravestones changed. Our final stop takes us through the Boston Common to the Central Burying Ground where you will see how the burying grounds have evolved from the small, haphazardly laid out pieces of land to modern-day suburban cemeteries.