Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A skeleton on display contemplating its own mortality.
Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe
This classic London pub has a surprising history behind it.
John Snow
The beef, Guinness, and oyster pie sports a rich, flaky crust.
The Guinea
Welcome to one of the only floating pubs in the world.
Tamesis Dock
This may be the oldest pie in the world.
St Helens 'Oldest Pie' at The Turks Head
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
11 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
14 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
21 days ago
“There may be a collective sense of a dark loneliness,” Dahl says, referring to Norway’s natural landscape.
In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
21 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Greece Sparta Magoula Cemetery

Magoula Cemetery

Modernist design and funerary customs meet Spartan traditions in this one-of-a-kind graveyard.

Sparta, Greece

Added By
Evan Panagopoulos
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  explorabilia / Atlas Obscura User
March 2023   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Spartans idealized order throughout life, but also in death. Spartan funerary customs had the deceased laid to rest in unmarked graves that mingled with the living inside the city walls. 

Marked gravestones were reserved only for special cases, such as men who fell in battle or women who died while holding religious office (though some scholars suggest women who died in childbirth may have also been awarded such memorials). These were the only citizens deemed important enough to have their names engraved for posterity, on tombstones that were typically lined up along busy promenades for everyone to see. Such heroic tombs became public monuments that reinforced the values and traditions of the formidable city-state.

Today, in the Magoula district of Sparta, ancient tradition mingles with modern design in the local cemetery. Designed by architects Charilaos and Sophia Polychronopoulos in 1964, the space was part of a series of inspired public works fostered by Georgios Sainopoulos, a two-term mayor of Sparta in the 1960s and 1970s.

One source of inspiration for the cemetery's aesthetic might have been Sainopoulos’s own experience attending the 1952 Olympic games in Helsinki, where the Finnish capital’s Nordic modernism was on full display. Indeed, the concrete arches at the entrance to the Spartan cemetery resemble Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s wave-like designs. It is said that the concrete “waves” within the cemetery might be symbolic of the ups and downs we experience in life. 

Compared to the plain graves of the past and the marble-heavy cemeteries throughout Greece, Magoula's memorials come in a wide array of unique shapes and materials, including pyramids, metal carvings, statues, and busts. There are even some symbols that reflect a closer affinity to the Western European funerary traditions. Overall, the cemetery shows a sense of unusual individuality.

Just as ancient Spartan graves became monuments to civic pride and sacrifice, Sainopoulos’s own underground vault honors the former mayor, who died in 2010. Accessed through a flight of steps in a specially reserved area of the cemetery, the memorial is a tribute to Sainopoulos’s contributions to everyday Spartan life.

Related Tags

Cemeteries Graveyards Gravestones Modernism Ancient Greece Graves

Know Before You Go

This is an active cemetery. Please behave with proper decorum when visiting: Be quiet, dress appropriately, and do not disturb mourners.

Community Contributors

Added By

explorabilia

Edited By

Collector of Experiences, DMStephenson

  • Collector of Experiences
  • DMStephenson

Published

August 19, 2020

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • www.sainopouleio.gr
  • www.lakonistas.gr
  • https://explorabilia.co.uk/2020/07/16/modernist-necropolis/
  • https://deathinantiquity.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/funerary-practices-and-civic-ideology-in-sparta-and-the-peloponnese/
  • https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379113
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=SyZoVB491_0C&pg=PA287&lpg=PA287&dq=%22To+inscribe+the+name+of+the+dead+upon+the+tomb+was+not+allowed,+unless+it+were+that+of+a+man+who+had+fallen+in+war,+or+that+of+a+woman+who+had+died+in+sacred+office.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=oRxANq48lg&sig=ACfU3U2vvR8CrMBEKFMzq2ulXSJnTWfIww&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhnpKX24zrAhXelnIEHbKdAYoQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22To%20inscribe%20the%20name%20of%20the%20dead%20upon%20the%20tomb%20was%20not%20allowed%2C%20unless%20it%20were%20that%20of%20a%20man%20who%20had%20fallen%20in%20war%2C%20or%20that%20of%20a%20woman%20who%20had%20died%20in%20sacred%20office.%E2%80%9D&f=false
Magoula Cemetery
Κοιμητηριο Μαγουλας
Ιωάννου Γιαννούλας Μπουτρα
Sparta, 231 00
Greece
37.081837, 22.404049
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Mystras

Sparta, Greece

miles away

Pyramid on Mount Taygetos

Laconia, Greece

miles away

Kalograion Monastery Silk Weaving

Kalamata, Greece

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sparta

Sparta

Greece

Places 2

Nearby Places

Mystras

Sparta, Greece

miles away

Pyramid on Mount Taygetos

Laconia, Greece

miles away

Kalograion Monastery Silk Weaving

Kalamata, Greece

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sparta

Sparta

Greece

Places 2

Related Places

  • “ANDREAS MORGENRØDT – Time Traveller – 1996–2064”

    Copenhagen, Denmark

    The Time Traveler's Grave

    Hidden in plain sight, a gravestone seemingly inscribed from the future stands among the cemetery’s historic tombs.

  • Westminster, Vermont

    Grave of William French

    This man's death led (indirectly) to Vermont's independence in 1777.

  • Enter through the gate to Kilmuir Cemetery.

    Isle of Skye, Scotland

    Kilmuir Cemetery

    An unpaid bill, a stolen stone, and a famous fashion designer rest peacefully alongside a heroine of Highlands history.

  • Three concrete slabs with small, destroyed remains of headstones sit behind a V-shaped tree opening.

    Taos, New Mexico

    The Three Brujas

    Three witches are said to be buried beneath these unmarked concrete graves.

  • Framingham, Massachusetts

    Graves of John Cloyce & Abraham Rice

    In 1777, two men were killed after being struck by lightning at the same time.

  • The famous recipe.

    Cascade, Iowa

    The Menster Christmas Cookie Gravestone

    A mother’s sweet tradition lives on with this unique memorial.

  • Mittie Manning’s Tomb

    Holly Springs, Mississippi

    Mittie Manning's Tomb

    This tomb was fashioned with a sliding window for a grieving mother who struggled with her daughter's death.

  • Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Los Ángeles and La Cruz Graveyards

    Legends, sculptures, and unique tombs can be seen lurking in these connected cemeteries.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.