A graveyard is an area where people are buried. It can also be called a churchyard, burial ground or necropolis. It is usually located close to a church and often has many rules and regulations.
Historically, wealthy Middle Ages Christians were laid to rest inside churches or in crypts under the floor. However, the churchyards eventually ran out of space and non-church-associated cemeteries were born to address this issue.
Location
A graveyard is a place where people are buried. Historically, church graveyards were used for mass burials, but when they ran out of space, non-church-associated cemeteries became more common. These later graveyards were also more organized than their forebears.
The words cemetery and graveyard are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. A graveyard is usually smaller and affiliated with a particular church or family, while a cemetery can be much larger and accommodate people of all faiths.
The location of a graveyard can affect its aura. For example, a graveyard in a poor neighborhood may attract thieves and criminals. This can make the area seem unsafe, and it’s important to find an upscale location for a cemetery.
Rules
The single word “graveyard” is the big clue that this is a place where people have been buried. This means that there are probably lots of rules and regulations associated with it. This is because a graveyard has been specifically designed for burials, and therefore has more planning involved than just burying some bodies on a patch of land.
Graveyards are usually located on church grounds, and therefore are reserved for those who were members of that particular church. This is in contrast to cemeteries, which are often more diverse and allow people from all faiths to be buried.
Another difference between graveyards and cemeteries is the rules that are applied to headstones. Typically, graveyards require that headstones be more conservative and Christian in nature, while cemeteries are more forgiving.
Regulations
Cemeteries and graveyards have been around for thousands of years. They were created when people started burying large numbers of their dead in one place, rather than keeping them at home or near their places of work. These early burial grounds were often called “cemeteries” or “burial ground.”
In the Middle Ages, only church members and their close family members were buried in a churchyard or graveyard. But as the population grew, it became apparent that churchyards would not be able to support the number of new burials. So, completely new areas for burial were established.
Typically, a cemetery has rules about how you can decorate your loved ones’ graves and niches. They may require that you remove flowers or other items within five days of interment, and they will not allow any adornments or emblems to be affixed on the crypt or niche front, except for Cemetery-approved cameos.
Costs
The death of a loved one introduces you to a new world of discussion and decisions, often on unfamiliar ground with vocabulary that might be foreign. In addition to choosing the funeral home, you also need to consider where your loved one will be buried. The two options most often discussed are graveyard and cemetery. Both offer many options for those who wish to pay their respects to their ancestors, but they do have some differences.
In the past, wealthy Christian members were buried inside their church in crypts, while less wealthy congregants were interred on the church’s outside grounds, which became known as the graveyard. As the population grew, church graveyards began to fill up, and independent sites for burial were developed called cemeteries.
Options
When choosing where to rest your loved ones, it’s important to consider what options are available. While the terms graveyard and cemetery are sometimes used interchangeably, the former generally refers to a burial site on church grounds and the latter to more modern, separate burial grounds that don’t have a religious affiliation. Graveyards are typically smaller and have older tombstones, while cemeteries can be much larger and contain multiple types of burial sites. Some may also offer more services than others.