Philadelphia ? Benjamin Franklin lies here. So do four other signers of the Declaration of Independence, war heroes, medical pioneers and thousands of others from all levels of Colonial and Revolution-era society.

The Christ Church Burial Ground, secluded behind 1772-era red brick walls and mostly closed to the public since 1976 due to deterioration and fears of damage, will reopen April 26.

“A whole generation hasn’t seen this burial ground, and it’s magical,” said Donald U. Smith, executive director of Christ Church Preservation Trust, standing among the snow-covered gravestones.

Over the two-acre site, bordered by the U.S. Mint and the Independence Hall complex, stand 1,400 markers of the greater and lesser lights of 18th- and 19th-century society. Another 2,000 markers have been lost, and officials say 4,000 to 5,000 people are buried in the graveyard, the vast majority interred in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Many of the gravestones are so timeworn they appear to be slabs of smooth rock stuck in the ground. The oldest bear simple inscriptions — names, ages and the dates the occupant “departed this life.”

Later markers take the shapes of obelisks, crosses, monuments or even tabletop grave markers — a fashion of the 1800s. There are also underground tombs with as many as 15 coffins.

Christ Church Burial Ground, established in 1719, has been largely closed to the public since the 1976 bicentennial celebration, except for special events and sporadic National Park Service tours.

Those wishing to pay their respects to Franklin, for example, have had to peer at his grave through a break in the walls, kept at bay by iron bars. Some toss pennies on the grave in imitation of a city tradition popular among late 19th-century brides seeking good luck.

After being closed for more than 25 years, Christ Church Burial Ground, across the street from the new Independence Visitors Center, will open its gates to visitors in April.

Over the past two years, workers have cleared the weeds and reassembled broken monuments. New markers are being made to accompany the timeworn stones, bearing inscriptions now worn away, but which a church member thought to write down in 1864.

Over the years, some of the leading lights of the age were buried there, including Franklin and three other signers of the Declaration of Independence — Francis Hopkinson, Joseph Hewes, and George Ross — plus John Dunlap, who printed both the Declaration and the Constitution. Commodore William Bainbridge, naval hero of the War of 1812 and captain of “Old Ironsides,” lies inside. So does Dr. Thomas Bond, founder of America’s first hospital.

Many others were buried during outbreaks of disease, such as the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 that killed about 5,000 residents of Philadelphia.

But officials say the graveyard also contains a cross-section of society — not only the body of Franklin, for example, but also the gravedigger who buried him — and they want to tell stories from all levels of society.

“People will come to the burial ground because of the famous,” senior guide Neil Ronk said. “But we will hope to give them a sense that they all count, and that they all contributed to the growth of the society that we are.”