Where is jfk gravesite

The Marine Band led a funeral procession to St. The rest of the Kennedy family waited at the cathedral. All told, foreign dignitaries from 92 different countries, as well as members of five international agencies and the papacy, were in attendance. Many of these dignitaries marched, relatively unnoticed, behind Mrs. Kennedy in the procession to the cathedral. About 1, guests attended the funeral Mass, held at the cathedral where the Kennedys often worshiped. There was no formal eulogy at the Mass, but Bishop Philip M.

In addition to these, there are countless streets named after John F. Kennedy, as well as schools nationwide which bear his name. Streets, schools, and even city names around the world memorialize John F. Kennedy, too. Kennedy is moved to a spot just a few feet away from its original interment site at Arlington National Cemetery.

The slain president had been assassinated more than three years earlier, on November 22, Although JFK never specified where he wanted to be buried, most of his family and friends assumed he would have chosen a plot in his home state of Massachusetts.

The spring before he died, President Kennedy had made an unscheduled tour of Arlington and had remarked to a friend on the view of the Potomac from the Custis-Lee Mansion, reportedly saying it was "so magnificent I could stay forever. Jackie, who was responsible for the final decision, toured the site on November 24 and agreed.

During funeral preparations, the first lady asked if cemetery workers could erect some sort of eternal flame at the gravesite. Cemetery officials scrambled to put together a makeshift Hawaiian torch under a wire dome, covered by dirt and evergreen boughs. The flame was fed by copper tubing from a propane tank situated feet away.

The initial plot was 20 feet by 30 feet and was surrounded by a white picket fence. During the first year after Kennedy's death, up to 3, people per hour visited his gravesite, and on weekends an estimated 50, people visited.

Three years after Kennedy's death, more than 16 million people had visited the gravesite. Because of the large crowds, cemetery officials and members of the Kennedy family decided that a more suitable site should be constructed. Construction began in and was completed on July 20, Lit by Mrs. Kennedy during the funeral, an eternal flame burns from the center of a five-foot circular granite stone at the head of the grave.

The Kennedy family paid actual costs in the immediate grave area, while the federal government funded improvements in the surrounding area that accommodated the visiting public. Other Kennedy family members are buried nearby, including two of President Kennedy's brothers: Robert F.

Warnecke had a long-standing association with the family, having met the President in Washington, D. He consulted with a wide range of designers on the gravesite concept, including Isamu Noguchi and the U. Commission on Fine Arts. The gravesite occupies a grassy hillside just east and downhill from Arlington House, the Robert E. The site is approached from a circular granite entrance ramp that leads up to an elliptical marble terrace facing the river. Warnecke and landscape architect Michael Painter consulted with Lawrence Halprin and Hideo Sasaki on the entrance design and Rachel Lambert Mellon on planting, which includes magnolia, cherry, and hawthorn trees.

Wide white marble steps lead up to the gravesite terrace, at the center of which is a field of rectangular stones set into a lawn panel.

Slate headstones mark the graves of Kennedy, two infant children and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Skip to main content.