Tombstone tourist (otherwise known as a "cemetery enthusiast", "cemetery tourist", "grave hunter", "graver", or "taphophile") describes an individual who has a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries, epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of (famous) deaths.[1][page needed] The term has been most notably used by author and biographer Scott Stanton as the title of his former website and book The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians (2003), about the lives and gravesites of famous musicians.[2][page needed]
Some cemetery tourists are particularly interested in the historical aspects of cemeteries or the historical relevance of their inhabitants. La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague or Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna, Austria carry a large array of famous inhabitants and their tombs, that make the cemeteries significant tourist destinations. The historic cemeteries of New Orleans are tourist destinations because of their relevance to the cultural history of the city.
Genealogy tourists make considerable effort to search out cemeteries and their records, to verify grave records and ancestral burial locations.
- ^ Rogak, Lisa (2004). Stones and Bones of New England: A guide to unusual, historic, and otherwise notable cemeteries. Globe Pequat. ISBN 0-7627-3000-5.
- ^ Stanton, Scott; Stanton, Robin W. (2003). The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians. ISBN 9780965996693.