Abandoned cemetery in France

In France, graves are often concessions that families acquire for a set period or in perpetuity. When nobody tends them, decay sets in: weeds and brambles overgrow the borders, stones tilt and inscriptions weather away.

French law allows communes to take such plots back. The concession must be more than thirty years old, the last burial more than ten years ago, and the plot visibly neglected. The mayor records its condition in a report, the family is notified, and a notice is posted publicly. A second report follows only after three years, and then the mayor decides by order. The remains are afterwards placed in a common ossuary in the same cemetery, and the names are entered in a public register.

Places where this procedure was never carried out are left to themselves. Because they are fragile, this page gives no place name, address or coordinates, only the country. If you visit similar places, treat them as resting places: take nothing, do not move stones and leave no litter.