Dutch Cemetery

The Dutch Cemetery at Bheemunipatnam is a historic burial ground located on Beach Road near Bheemili Beach in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. Established during the Dutch colonial period in the 17th century when Bheemunipatnam was a Dutch settlement, it contains weathered tombs and gravestones with Dutch inscriptions. Maintained as a heritage site, it reflects the town's early European trading history and is notable for its aged masonry tombs and coastal setting.

Visitors can expect a small, enclosed historic cemetery near the coast with rows of old masonry tombs, vaults and headstones bearing Dutch inscriptions and dates from the 17th to 18th centuries. The site is quiet and weathered, with overgrown vegetation and aged plasterwork. There are no elaborate structures, but the tomb architecture, inscriptions and coastal surroundings offer a brief heritage walk and photography opportunity.

Bheemunipatnam was a Dutch settlement from the 17th century under the Dutch East India Company and served as a trading port. The Dutch Cemetery contains burials of Dutch traders, officials and their families dating from the 1600s to 1700s, with tombs featuring Dutch inscriptions and colonial masonry styles. It is among the earliest European cemeteries on the Coromandel Coast and documents the Dutch presence in Andhra Pradesh before British dominance.

The cemetery is a preserved example of Dutch colonial heritage on the east coast of India and illustrates the multicultural trading history of Bheemunipatnam. It is valued as a heritage and educational site for understanding early European settlement, funerary architecture and local history.