Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mount Moriah Cemetery: Philadelphia's Gothic Ruins Reclaimed by Nature

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

By the Wicked Cool Places editors · Published Wed, Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Fri, Aug 28, 2026

Why it’s cool

This sprawling Victorian burial ground was left without an owner for years, allowing a massive forest to consume its ornate Gothic tombs and grand Romanesque architecture.

Northeast Historic

The crumbling brownstone gatehouse of Mount Moriah Cemetery is overgrown with vines and greenery under a bright sky.

Deep in the heart of Southwest Philadelphia, a massive 400-acre landscape of Victorian mourning is slowly emerging from decades of botanical takeover. Once a rival to the grandest necropolises of Paris and Brooklyn, Mount Moriah Cemetery spent years in a state of legal and physical limbo, left to the whims of the encroaching forest after its governing association dissolved.

Why It Stands Out

Established in 1855, this site eventually became the largest burial ground in Pennsylvania. Its architecture was designed to impress, featuring a monumental Romanesque brick entrance and intricate Gothic mausoleums that housed the city’s elite.

However, the cemetery's most fascinating chapter began when it became essentially ownerless. After the last member of its governing board passed away, the grounds fell into a period of total neglect.

Today, the site offers a haunting visual experience that feels more like an archaeological dig than a modern graveyard. Toppled headstones and crumbling monuments are tangled in vines, creating a gothic fairytale atmosphere.

A comparable atmosphere exists at The Witch’s Castle. In some sections, the decay is so advanced that the crumbling stone structures resemble the ruins of an ancient civilization rather than a 19th-century American cemetery.

Similar gothic decay can be seen at the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital Ruins. It is a rare example of what happens when a massive urban space is simply handed back to nature.

Before You Go

While the cemetery was once a nearly impassable thicket, dedicated restoration efforts have changed the landscape. A local non-profit, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, has spent years clearing weeds and carving out pathways through the dense growth.

As of recent years, approximately 60 to 70 percent of the grounds have been cleared and made safe for public visitation. Visitors should still expect some uneven terrain and overgrown areas, as reclaiming 400 acres of forest remains a massive, ongoing project.

Questions worth answering

What happened to make this place look so overgrown?

After the governing association dissolved, the 400-acre site spent years without an owner. This legal limbo let the forest take over the Victorian tombs and Romanesque brickwork.

Is it actually safe to walk through the grounds now?

A local non-profit has cleared roughly 60 to 70 percent of the land for visitors. You'll still find uneven ground and thickets, as the restoration is a work in progress.

What kind of atmosphere should we expect?

It feels less like a modern graveyard and more like an archaeological find. The crumbling stone and tangled vines create a gothic mood reminiscent of an ancient civilization's ruins.

How large is the site and what kind of architecture will we see there?

We'll find 400 acres of Victorian grounds featuring a massive Romanesque brick entrance and Gothic mausoleums. It's the largest burial site in the state, though many of the stone structures now look like ancient ruins.

Visit Snapshot

The cemetery is currently maintained by a non-profit volunteer group. While over half of the grounds have been restored for safe public access, visitors should wear sturdy footwear to navigate the remaining overgrown sections and uneven paths.

Location

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Editorial source

Mount Moriah Cemetery

In Southwest Philadelphia, the abandoned Mount Moriah Cemetery is steadily being reclaimed by the forest it was once built on. Opening in 1855, it had an ornate Romanesque entrance and gothic mausoleums that rivaled the great cemeteries of Greenwood in Brooklyn, and the famous Pere LaChaise in Paris.

Eventually expanding to nearly 400 acres, it was Pennsylvania's largest burial site. What's perhaps most unusual about the cemetery is that no one actually owns it.

When the last member of the original governing Mount Moriah Cemetery Association passed away a decade ago, the already neglected cemetery was left abandoned. Today it is largely forgotten.

The grand brick entrance lies in ruins, the headstones and monuments have toppled over, and the forest is gradually covering the grounds. Mausoleums that hold some of Philadelphia's wealthiest Victorian patriarchs are starting to resemble a sort of rambling gothic fairytale.

Trying to combat Mother Nature, the local non-profit Friends Of Mount Moriah are devoting their time to clearing weeds and creating pathways through this overgrown and forgotten cemetery. But with so much land to contend with and little or no funding, the task is Herculean—walking through Mount Moriah today, you could easily think you were strolling through the ruins of an ancient Greek city rather than the final resting place of tens of thousands Pennsylvanian families.

Update as of May 2017: Although there is a good bit still overgrown, it is being cleaned up as of the spring of 2017. Update as of October 2019: The nonprofit group, Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery has been working for years to restore the cemetery.

Around 50% of the cemetery has been reopened for the public to safely visit. Update as of May 2022: Around 60-70% of the cemetery seems restored for visitation.

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