Entry No. 23 — the Atlanta file — filed under: mausoleum
Westview Abbey Mausoleum
When it was completed in 1943, this Spanish Gothic mausoleum was the largest building of its kind under one roof in the world — over one and a half football fields long, holding 11,444 crypts behind 27 stained-glass panels depicting the life of Christ. Its third floor was never finished and remains boarded shut to this day.
The story
In 1943, Asa Candler Jr.—son of the Coca-Cola magnate—decided Westview Cemetery needed something far more imposing than standard lawn headstones. He broke ground on Westview Abbey Mausoleum, a colossal Spanish Gothic sanctuary that stretched more than a football field and a half under a single roof. When finished, its stone corridors housed 11,444 crypts, vaulted ceilings, and a chapel enclosed by 27 stained-glass panels depicting the life of Christ.
The interior was designed to awe and isolate. Italian, French, and Tennessee marble line hallways so deep that daylight barely reaches the inner turnings, while carved lines of poetry from William Cullen Bryant and Alfred Lord Tennyson cut into the stone walls above the dead. Yet for all its grand scale, the building was never actually completed: after finishing the primary floors, workers walked away from the third level, leaving it uncarved, unpaved, and boarded shut.
That shuttered top level still sits directly above thousands of entombed Atlantans—including Candler Jr. himself. While casual tourists head across town to Oakland Cemetery, Westview Abbey remains quiet and sparsely visited, holding a half-finished secret room above one of the largest marble crypt collections in North America.
What it's like
You'll turn off Westview Drive and navigate winding cemetery roads to reach the grey stone abbey structure. Step through the entrance doors into immediate, chilled silence; the long marble corridors echo every step. Plan your visit for late afternoon when light pierces the 27 stained-glass panels in the chapel, throwing sharp reds and cobalt blues across the tomb faces. As you walk the upper corridors, look for the quiet, dead-end stairwells and locked doors—that is where access to the boarded-up third floor stops. Remember this is an active private burial site, so keep your voice low, stay on paved walkways, and leave pets at home.
The move: Walk the marble corridors in late-afternoon light when the stained glass throws color across the crypts, then find the sealed stairwell up to the unfinished third floor.
- 📍 Southwest Atlanta / Westview
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1680 Westview Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Goat Farm Arts Center — Trade a cavernous 1940s stone mausoleum for a 19th-century industrial cotton-mill ruin now filled with working artist studios.
- Rhodes Hall ("the Castle on Peachtree") — Pair Atlanta's largest stone mausoleum with its 1904 Romanesque stone castle, both built by city magnates with a love for grand stained glass.
- Trap Music Museum — Jump from silent, dead-elite 1940s marble corridors to an intense, tactile celebration of Atlanta's modern hip-hop origins three miles north.
Good to know
What are the hours and admission fees for Westview Abbey Mausoleum?
Visiting the cemetery and mausoleum is free. Operating hours can fluctuate for cleaning, maintenance, or services, so call the cemetery office to confirm current mausoleum access before making the drive.
Can you visit or tour the unfinished third floor?
No. The third floor remains unfinished and boarded shut. It is strictly off-limits to visitors, though the sealed doorways leading up to it are visible from the open halls.
Who is interred at Westview Abbey Mausoleum?
The abbey mausoleum holds 11,444 crypts, including Asa Candler Jr., who oversaw its 1943 construction. The surrounding 600-acre cemetery grounds contain over 100,000 graves, including Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler Sr. and author Joel Chandler Harris.
Are photography or pets permitted inside?
Pets are strictly banned anywhere on the grounds or inside the buildings. Casual personal photography is allowed, provided you remain respectful of ongoing memorial services and visiting families.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Atlas Obscura · georgiatrust.org · Official site
last checked: 2026-07-19