The Burial Place of Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen

The Burial Place of Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen

The rumoured burial place of the famous Marie Laveau is in a cemetery in New Orleans, one of the most richly historic places in the United States. Marie Laveau (1801-1881), with the help of her daughter Marie Laveau II, built a strong reputation as the Voodoo Queen while practicing voodoo, herbalism and midwifery. She was born free in the United States with African, French and Native heritage. Marie Laveau offered her services throughout town as a career, but also helped the community by providing teachings to women of the area, visiting prisons to advocate for those on death row, and providing free rituals to those in need. When she died, the papers described her as a “woman of great beauty, intellect, and charisma who was also pious, charitable, and a skilled herbal healer”.

There are two tombs located in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The first is labelled as Marie Laveau's grave with a plaque. (as seen in these images). A second tomb, unlabelled, is rumoured to be Marie Laveau's actual resting place. This tomb can be identified by the large amount of handwritten X's all over the tomb.