Why are they not buried in Svalbard, and in the French province they don't dig graves: 8 places on the map where people are forbidden to die

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Every country and even every city has its own laws and prohibitions, sometimes quite strange. In China, for example, you can't watch time travel movies, and in Singapore you can't buy chewing gum without a doctor's prescription. But all this is small compared to the fact that in some places it is strictly forbidden by law to die.

Itsukushima Island (Miyajima), Japan

It is home to one of the most important Shinto shrines, which should not be desecrated. Previously, only pilgrims had the right to visit the island. Nowadays, about 2,000 people live on Itsukushima, but the ban on any burial here is still in effect. Since the second half of the 19th century, one can neither die nor be born on the island. All elderly people, pregnant women and the sick are sent to any other place.

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The village of Lanjaron, Spain

The Death Prohibition Act was passed by the settlement administration in 1999 for purely practical reasons. The Spanish government simply did not give its consent to the acquisition of land for the new cemetery. The mayor of Lanjarona signed a law according to which local residents cannot leave to another world until the village has its own money to purchase land for the cemetery. Jokes aside, but there really is no place to bury the dead.

Longyearbyen town, Svalbard archipelago, Norway

Arctic cold reigns in this northern town all year round, and the polar night lasts about four months a year. Permafrost conditions have led to the fact that the corpses of the dead do not decompose and become tasty prey for polar bears. In subzero temperatures, not only bodies are well preserved, but also infections and viruses, which can be carried by bears. Accordingly, all seriously ill patients are sent to the mainland in advance. However, if a person dies suddenly, his body is also transported to another place. In recent years, the city authorities began to propose cremating the dead, but relatives refuse such an alternative.

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Le Lavandou town, France

Since 2000, a death ban has been introduced for 5,500 residents of Le Lavandou. This is explained by the lack of burial places. Although there are actually places, but the picturesque olive grove, chosen by the mayor, was recognized by the Nice court as too beautiful for the final resting place of residents, and the abandoned quarry, proposed by environmentalists as an alternative, was considered by the residents to offend their religious feelings. In their opinion, a good Christian cannot find peace in a landfill. The mayor himself called his law absurd, but adopted in a desperate situation. The cremation of the residents of the city also did not suit for religious reasons.

Commune of Cuyunot, France

In 2007, due to a lack of space in the cemetery, a death ban was adopted in the city of Cuyuno. About 15,000 people live here, and about 70 die a year. The only area where the cemetery could be expanded was on the border with the ammunition depot. But this neighborhood categorically did not suit the country's Ministry of Defense. The situation was hopeless and the mayor, following the example of his colleague from Le Lavandou, adopted a similar law.

Sarpurans village, France

Fewer than 300 people live in this village, but there has been no burial place for a long time. At one time, the mayor of the city, having passed a law prohibiting dying, promised to severely punish violators. However, at that time he himself was already 70 and soon he himself broke the adopted law. But the issue of burials in Sarpurans remained unresolved.

City of Biritiba Mirim, Brazil

Digging graves is strictly forbidden in this Brazilian town. The fact is that Biritiba Mirim is surrounded by rivers, which are the source of drinking water for the large city of São Paulo. The danger of contamination with groundwater poisons forced the adoption of a law banning burials in the vicinity of the city. Residents bury their relatives in other cities, while incurring very significant financial losses. More fortunate for those who already have old family crypts, where you can bury an urn with the ashes of the deceased.

Jiangxi Province, China

In 2017, the authorities in the Southeastern province of China considered the use of land resources for burials too expensive and passed a law banning burials. It has long been banned here to produce and sell coffins, and now it is forbidden to bury relatives. The provincial administration urges residents to choose cremation. It should be understood that many poor families bought coffins in advance, bringing them from other places. But as a result of the unfolding campaign, representatives of the authorities simply removed the coffins from their homes.

There are still many amazing places in the world of particular interest. For example, you can find mysterious places that are closed for most people. These are islands, where one can die, and extreme places where man-made disasters once took place.