Photographer's comments: 

Located on the Chemin de l'Eglise street, in Sainte-Beatrix, Lanaudiere, Quebec.

From about the 7th century, European burial was under the control of the church and could only take place on consecrated church ground. Practices varied, but in continental Europe, bodies were usually buried in a mass grave until they had decomposed. The bones were then exhumed and stored in ossuaries, either along the arcaded bounding walls of the cemetery, or within the church under floor slabs and behind walls.

In most cultures those who were vastly rich, had important professions, were part of the nobility or were of any other high social status were usually buried in individual crypts inside or beneath the relevant place of worship with an indication of the name of the deceased, date of death and other biographical data. In Europe this was often accompanied with a depiction of their family coat of arms.

This practice is the foundation of cemetery commonly found today in every corners of the world.