Imagine living in a city where dying is against the law! In Longyearbyen, Norway, it’s too cold to bury people, and in Cugnaux, France, a ban on dying was used to get permission for a new cemetery. These cities have some of the most surprising and unusual rules around.
municipal officials have forbidden residents to die
No one has come up with a good punishment for the dead just yet
Death is usually considered the worst punishment possible for a crime
France and Italy are particularly prone to declaring death unlawful
mostly because it’s has proven to be a successful way to protest untenable restrictions against cemetery expansions
Because when there’s no room to bury people
the only acceptable choice is to outlaw the Grim Reaper
Here are seven towns that have urged their residents to become immortal—or at least not die within city limits:
In <a href="http://magazine.good.is/articles/sellia-italy-bans-death-stay-healthy" target="_blank">August</a>
the mayor of this town in southern Italy decreed that getting sick was not an option for residents
is really meant to encourage people to stay healthy and take care of themselves
Anyone who doesn’t get a yearly checkup will be fined
so presumably people are allowed to go on dying now
the city was still fighting to get a new cemetery
[h/t: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/sep/30/where-in-the-world-is-it-illegal-to-die" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>]
© 2025 <a href="https://www.minutemedia.com/" class="underline">Minute Media</a> - All Rights Reserved
Her work has previously appeared in Fast Company
She lives in Brooklyn and spends most of her free time taking photos of her cat
Mental Floss may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.",{"type":"70","value":"go"},"AR_1",{"type":"70","value":"gq"},"This article contains affiliate links to products selected by our editors
as well as products provided to Mental Floss for review purposes
d) {\n    h = h[d] = h[d] || {\n      q: [],\n      onReady: function(c){ h.q.push(c) },\n    };\n    d = o.createElement(u);\n    d.async = 1;\n    d.src = n;\n    n = o.getElementsByTagName(u)[0];\n    n.parentNode.insertBefore(d
\"https://www.datadoghq-browser-agent.com/us1/v5/datadog-rum.js\"
Initialize Datadog RUM and then measure TTFB/FCP\n  window.DD_RUM.onReady(function() {\n    // 3a
Initialize RUM\n    window.DD_RUM.init({\n      applicationId: 'f3f16add-4ebf-4aad-9bb4-adb13da4d17e',\n      clientToken: 'pub53fad8ec1eea29e2f92980d95072da2f',\n      site: \"datadoghq.com\",\n      service: \"voltax-sites-www.mentalfloss.com\",\n      env: \"prod\",\n      sessionSampleRate: 100,\n      sessionReplaySampleRate: 0,\n      trackUserInteractions: true,\n      trackResources: true,\n      trackLongTasks: true,\n      defaultPrivacyLevel: \"mask-user-input\",\n    });\n\n    // 3b
Measure TTFB & FCP once the page fully loads\n    window.addEventListener('load'
{\n        ttfb: ttfb,\n        fcp: fcp,\n      });\n\n      // Optional: log them to console for debugging\n      console.log('[Datadog RUM] TTFB:'
In <a href=\"http://magazine.good.is/articles/sellia-italy-bans-death-stay-healthy\" target=\"_blank\">August</a>
[h/t: <a href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/sep/30/where-in-the-world-is-it-illegal-to-die\" target=\"_blank\">The Guardian</a>]
But that was not the only French church suffering from vandalism recently
Was it youthful hubris or deliberate religious hatred
a gang of minors is responsible for damaging a Catholic church in Cugnaux
The Saint-Laurent de Cugnaux church suffered the start of a fire when a person nearby saw smoke rising
and paintings were broken.&quot; This says Albert Sanchez
Sanchez says to be &quot;extremely shocked&quot; and condemns the &quot;act of violence against a religious community.&quot; The mayor expressed his solidarity with the Catholic faithful
Various inscriptions were tagged on the church wall
inscriptions in Arabic and several other things were drawn on the wall
Aside from several inscriptions, there was also the sentence &quot;Long live Islam and peace&quot; drawn onto the wall. The Mosque of Lieusaint has &quot;strongly condemned this act of vandalism&quot;, Bisson told the media outlet <a href="https://www.cnews.fr/france/2023-05-09/seine-et-marne-des-tags-decouverts-sur-une-eglise-de-lieusaint-un-individu" target="_blank">CNews</a>
The Mosque was sceptical that Muslims could have made these inscriptions
It is not the first time that the Lieusaint church was vandalised; the conservative news website <a href="https://www.valeursactuelles.com/societe/seine-et-marne-une-eglise-vandalisee-avec-une-inscription-vive-lislam-et-la-paix" target="_blank">Valeurs Actuelles</a> reports
Several statues had been degraded and overthrown
but the police could not arrest the perpetrators of this act
<a class="more_button" href="/en/category/art">Archive Art</a>
the mayor of Sarpourenx ordered a decree forbidding the residents from dying unless they somehow already owned a spot for burial in the congested cemetery
Even thinking of death is prohibited in Sarpourenx and attracts severe punishments
Longyearbyen is located so close to the arctic circle and the weather usually reaches freezing temperatures
This frigid temperature prevents dead bodies from decomposing which in turn increases the spread of diseases to the living
Dying and being buried in Longyearbyen has been outlawed since 1950
People approaching death are taken to other parts of Norway to live out their last days
The mayor of this village in Granada province banned death in 1999
This ban was put in place because the local cemetery was overcrowded and it was difficult for the souls of the departed to find peace in the afterlife
The residents were advised to remain alive and healthy until a new graveyard was found
Itsukushima is a UNESCO world heritage site in Japan dedicated to worshipping the gods
It is also known as 'Shrine Island' and is home to many shrines and temples
no deaths or births have been allowed on Shrine Island since 1978
there are no hospitals or cemeteries in this part of Japan
a decree was passed in Sellia preventing its citizens from even falling sick at all
This decree was passed to protect Sellia's diminishing population
The population were asked to resist death and maintain a healthy lifestyle
the Mayor of Cugnaux banned death after he was unable to get permission to open a new cemetery
Cugnaux was later granted permission to widen its cemetery
the mayor of Biritiba-Mirim passed a law forbidding the residents to die on its land
The residents of those who defied this law by dying were fined and even jailed sometimes
This law was passed because the graveyards had reached full capacity and crypts were starting to be shared
 <a class="color-pink" href="/auteur/arnaud-mourier/">Arnaud Mourier</a>
   <a target="_blank" style="display:none" class="Article_updateArticleLink__NMIRA">Modifier article</a>OKAu d&eacute;part c'est une oeuvre d'art puis &ccedil;a devient une source de moqueries pour finalement &ecirc;tre s&eacute;lectionn&eacute;e pour la finale des "10 ronds-points les pires (et les plus moches) de France"
C'est l'association des Contribuables Associ&eacute;s qui a lanc&eacute; ce concours afin de d&eacute;noncer "les gaspillages d'argent public"
pr&eacute;sent sur le rond-point Jean-Monnet &agrave; Cugnaux est l'oeuvre de l'artiste toulousain Bernard Cad&egrave;ne,&nbsp;mesure 7 m&egrave;tres de haut et semble susciter la pol&eacute;mique
comme pas mal de pi&egrave;ces issues de l'art contemporain au final
Les crit&egrave;res pour faire partie de la s&eacute;lection du pire rond-point sont nombreux
allant de la laideur&nbsp;au manque de praticit&eacute; en passant par&nbsp;un co&ucirc;t souvent beaucoup trop &eacute;lev&eacute;
On croise les doigts pour Cugnaux et on vous laisse vous faire votre avis