Neptune Society Columbarium, San Francisco

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Columbarium

San Francisco


Art nouveau stained-glass windows and a dome skylight illuminate more than 8000 niches honoring dearly departed San Franciscans and their beloved pets. San Francisco's Columbarium revived the ancient Roman custom of sheltering cremated remains in 1898, when burial grounds crowded the Richmond District. The Columbarium was neglected from 1934 until its 1979 restoration by the Neptune Society, a cremation advocacy group. Today visitors admire the neoclassical architecture and pay their respects to pioneering gay city supervisor Harvey Milk.

Transportation

  • bus: 5, 31, 33, 38

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San Francisco attractions

1. Dahlia Garden

0.59 MILES

Leave it to San Francisco to plant a dell that's totally punk rock, featuring spiky, in-your-face neon blooms cultivated by the city's many hardcore…

2. Conservatory of Flowers

0.6 MILES

Flower power is alive and well at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers. This gloriously restored 1878 Victorian greenhouse is home to freaky outer…

3. St John Coltrane Church

0.76 MILES

When the bass thumbs out the opening notes to 'A Love Supreme,' you'll know the Sunday liturgy has begun at San Francisco's legendary Church of St John…

4. National AIDS Memorial Grove

0.77 MILES

This peaceful, 10-acre living memorial ringed by redwoods and graced with poetic paving-stone tributes was founded in 1991 to commemorate millions of…

5. Internet Archive

0.82 MILES

Follow trails of deleted White House tweets, lost Grateful Dead tapes and defunct Nintendo gamer magazines to this 1923 Greek Revival landmark. In a…

6. Swedenborgian Church

0.89 MILES

Radical ideals in the form of distinctive buildings make beloved SF landmarks; this standout 1894 example is the collaborative effort of 19th-century Bay…

7. Haight Street

0.9 MILES

Was it the fall of 1966 or the winter of ’67? As the Haight saying goes, if you can remember the Summer of Love, you probably weren’t here. The fog was…

8. California Academy of Sciences

0.9 MILES

This classic research institute and museum has been teaching San Franciscans about natural history since 1853. Right in the middle of Golden Gate Park,…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/san-francisco/golden-gate-park-and-the-avenues/attractions/columbarium/a/poi-sig/383971/1329646",
      "destination": "San-Francisco",
      "continent": "North-America",
      "country": "USA",
      "region": "California",
      "city": "San-Francisco",
      "position": "superzone"
    }