Door to Eternity: Part 5

The Colma Necropolis is located outside of San Francisco and is a vast city of souls for about 1.5 million people sleep within the gates of its sixteen cemeteries. Although the Necropolis was founded in 1924, entire church graveyards and neighborhood cemeteries predating the 1900s were relocated to Colma, from San Francisco.

Today, the cemeteries contain burial grounds, columbaria, private and public mausoleums chapels and a treasure trove of hidden art. Within the gates of the various cemeteries can be found priceless stained glass windows, hand carved monuments, and beautifully engraved metal doorways into private mausoleums. Several of the hand engraved private mausoleum doors captivated me with their intricate beauty & spiritual symbolism. During a recent visit to the Necropolis I captured several images of them, which I will be posting.

In essence the doors were made to be portals into spirit, doorways into eternity and entrances to private chambers, where loved ones could find consolation.  Many of the crypts are deteriorating with age and much of the beauty Tiffany glass has disappeared sadly due to theft. My visit was a rare opportunity to view the vanishing art of the Necropolis and an opportunity to share what I found with others. Although this is funeral art; in the end it is simply art with the capability of transcending death.