A visit to Karl Marx's gravesite in London

(VNF) - On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth (May 5, 1818-2018), a vast number of visitors with flowers and candles visit the tomb of Karl Marx, the great ideologist and outstanding leader of the working class and oppressed peoples around the world.

The tomb of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery, London. (Photo: Getty)

In addition to being considered one of the most valuable treasures in London, with its Victorian Gothic architecture, the Highgate Cemetery is also known for its “inhabitants,” who were the famous figures of London across hundreds of years.

Situated on a hill on the outskirts of north London, Highgate Cemetery has some of the finest funerary architecture in the country. It gives visitors a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere with the hundred-year-old tombs hidden under ivy and moss.

A worker sweeps new paving at the tomb of Karl Marx, which is being renovated ahead of the 200th anniversary of his birth, Highgate Cemetery, London, May 3. (Photo: Xinhua)

The most infamous resting place in the cemetery is Karl Marx - a great philosopher, theorist, and revolutionist.

Together with Frederic Engels, Marx built the revolutionary and scientific theological system which is considered to be the guideline and sharp spiritual weapon that led the revolutionary cause of the working class and workers around the world in the fight against oppression and exploitation.

Marx settled in London in 1849 and lived there until his death in 1883. He is buried in the east part of Highgate which is also home to the tombs of Karl Marx's wife, Jenny von Westphalen, his daughter Eleanor Marx, his grandson Harry Longuet and his housekeeper Helena Demuth. Previously, members of the Karl Marx family were buried in other parts of the cemetery, but in 1954 they were reunited in a common tomb.

The simple tomb of the family is located in a 10m2 area rounded by a small iron fence about 30cm high. On the grave is a marble memorial and a two-metre bronze statue of Karl Marx, a sculpture by Lawrence Bradshaw made under order of the British Communist Party in 1956.

A visitor walks onto the new paving at the tomb of Karl Marx. (Photo: Xinhua)

Each day, this place welcomes hundreds of visitors from all over the world, most of whom are from China, Germany, Eastern European countries and the UK. It costs 4 pounds (US$5.4) to visit Highgate, which is now run by a charity and costs about 1,000 pounds a day to maintain.

Visitors can take photos and read quotes from Marx's famous works which are engraved on the pedestal, such as "Workers of all lands unite," or "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

People take pictures of the tomb of Karl Marx. (Photo: Xinhua)

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