There is an unusual, unforgettable fact about New Orleans; because New Orleans is built on a delta, the dead are buried above ground. The water table in the New Orleans delta is just a few feet below the surface and caskets buried at what would be a normal six-foot depth would be under water and would occasionally rise out of the ground. Today, New Orleans cemeteries of above ground tombs look like miniature cityscapes with tombs that look like houses with slanted roofs and have been called Cities of the Dead.
