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With filming for the forthcoming Batman film taking place at the Glasgow Necropolis, we thought we would take a look at the story behind our very own city of the dead.

Few cities in the world would list a graveyard as one of their must-see attractions - but then, few places are like Glasgow.

The Necropolis, a 37-acre space behind Glasgow Cathedral, is home to 50,000 souls and plenty of myths, interesting facts and histories.

(Image: @LennonKennedy5)

The real spiritual heartland of the city (no pun intended), it is a place that for many represents a genuinely holy place of Celtic and Christian regard, one of much architectural and cultural significance.

As Billy Connolly once said, “Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead."

(Image: Jaimie Gramston/itvpictures.com)

And for others, it may even hold a secret meaning.

The very foundation of Glasgow can be traced back to the now hidden Molendinar burn which is buried beneath the road over which the bridge serves as the main entry point to the graveyard in the city centre.

Housed in an area originally known as Craig's Park, the planting of fir trees in the early 1700s led to its name being changed to Fir Park, around the same time the land was purchased by the Merchants House of Glasgow.

The first idea to transform it into a formal burial park was tabled by John Strang, a Dowanhill-born historian and author, and Chamberlain of the Merchants' House, in 1831.

At the time it was described as a barren hill containing just a few fir trees, situated in an area which stood in stark juxtaposition to the nearby splendour of Glasgow Cathedral.

Strang saw immediate potential in an alternative use, and advocated for the construction of a 'city of the dead' in the local newspapers of the day. A place that was to be both "respectful to the dead" and "safe and sanitary to the living"; one modelled on the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, a place Strang, who spent time living in France, had previously visited.

(Image: Getty Images)

The subsequent publishing of a small volume called Necropolis Glasguensis bolstered support for the cemetery, and the construction allowed the Merchants’ House to draw in a large revenue for their charitable organization, from a plot of land that previously served little purpose.

Formally opened two years later, in May 1833, the first burial actually took place on September 12, 1832, for 'the Jew Joseph Levy’, a 62-year-old quill merchant who died from cholera.

The Jewish burial area was purchased by local residents in 1831 for the sum of 100 guineas, at a time when over 40 Jewish people lived in the city.

(Image: Getty Images)

The cemetery was originally planned to include for a subterranean area to operate as a tiered level of catacombs running through the hill, with the area known as the Facade just across the bridge originally built as an entrance way.

Built in 1835, the requirement for a subterranean part was deemed necessary due to the alarming growing (illegal) trade in corpses. However, with the passing of The Anatomy Act of 1832, the practices of 'body snatchers' was nipped in the bud.

Perhaps the most stunning part of the cemetery is the aforementioned bridge, called the Bridge of Sighs. The bridge features a 60ft main arch across the old Molendinar burn and was erected by the Merchants House of Glasgow in 1834 to afford a proper entrance to the cemetery, and cost £1240 (around £55,000 in today's money) to build.

It wasn't until 1838 that the famous entrance gates were made. Built by Thomas Edington and Sons of the Phoenix Iron Works in Maryhill. The cast iron gates depict the Merchants’ House symbol, a clipper on top of the world, alongside a Latin inscription which reads ‘so many returning to the same place’.

(Image: Getty Images)

Conspiracy theorists believe that the cemetery takes on the form of a giant masonic symbol. Research conducted in 2007 by historian Ronnie Scott points to the Necropolis as a symbolic landscape metaphor that, hidden in plain sight, is distinctly ‘freemasonic’ in nature, form and layout.

Scott points to those involved in the planning stages being Freemasons, as well as many of the people buried there, with some of the ornate graves and crypts featuring iconography related to freemasonry.

The Necropolis has been used for a variety of film and television series, including Taggart, and featured in Alisdair Grey's classic book Lanark.

And while it may seem a strange place to direct tourists visiting Glasgow in the direction of, the Necropolis is a place of pride for many Glaswegians - and a strangely serene place for your Sunday walk.

Just don't try and visit at night ...

Article first published on February 12, 2018.