Where We Be
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| Recoleta Cemetery -- Buenos Aires |
| The mausoleums are pressed right up against one another like Amsterdam townhomes for the dead |
| A beautiful sculpture in Recoleta Cemetery incorporating both the Christian cross and Jewish menorah |
First impression of Recoleta Cemetery: astonish-
ment at the sheer concentration of tombs. Not too
many trees or flowers, but instead a feeling of a
true city of the dead with "street signs" and
"buildings."
Robin hit the nail on the head when she said it
reminded her of a store selling monuments and
headstones due to the sheer density of tombs.
Monuments were pressed up against each other
like tall Amsterdam townhomes gone grim. Artwork
and sculptures and crosses criss-crossed
everywhere, especially on the tops of monuments,
creating a jumble of marble images.
We took a free tour of the cemetery at 11 am. Our
guide told us a medium-sized mausoleum sells for
approximately $30,000 US, with a small-sized vault
going for $10,000. She said location is everything,
just as with a home or apartment.
A medium-sized vault holds about twenty family
members, since each vault includes a “basement”
with tiered shelves for stacking of coffins. You
don't have to be Argentinian or a member of any
particular religion to purchase a vault. You just
need to find someone willing to sell their vault in
order to purchase it from them. There are no
“newspaper ads” for vaults; rather, info passes by
word of mouth amongst the cemetery caretakers.
What happens to existing bodies in a vault if the
vault happens to be sold? They are cremated or
moved to a new location.
Each vault is privately owned and maintained, so
there is a wide disparity in levels of care (from
exquisite to decrepit), style (from post-modern to
rustic), and display (from ostentatious to simple).
Some vaults have their own chapels. Many have
stained glass windows and altars with flowers. A
few have photos of loved ones or of the deceased.
Some statues are exquisite and capture the
essence of the person who passed away. For
example, one young woman of 26 who died in an
avalanche in Switzerland was sculpted in her
wedding dress accompanied by her favorite dog.
If you want a true horror story, ask about the
young woman buried alive here in the early 1900's.
Of course, we and everyone else on the tour were
most interested in seeing the tomb of Evita Peron,
which is located in a narrow side alley. The tomb,
owned by Eva's sister, is under the name of Duarte
(Eva’s maiden name) and is surprisingly simple
and unobtrusive for such an important figure in
Argentinian history.
ment at the sheer concentration of tombs. Not too
many trees or flowers, but instead a feeling of a
true city of the dead with "street signs" and
"buildings."
Robin hit the nail on the head when she said it
reminded her of a store selling monuments and
headstones due to the sheer density of tombs.
Monuments were pressed up against each other
like tall Amsterdam townhomes gone grim. Artwork
and sculptures and crosses criss-crossed
everywhere, especially on the tops of monuments,
creating a jumble of marble images.
We took a free tour of the cemetery at 11 am. Our
guide told us a medium-sized mausoleum sells for
approximately $30,000 US, with a small-sized vault
going for $10,000. She said location is everything,
just as with a home or apartment.
A medium-sized vault holds about twenty family
members, since each vault includes a “basement”
with tiered shelves for stacking of coffins. You
don't have to be Argentinian or a member of any
particular religion to purchase a vault. You just
need to find someone willing to sell their vault in
order to purchase it from them. There are no
“newspaper ads” for vaults; rather, info passes by
word of mouth amongst the cemetery caretakers.
What happens to existing bodies in a vault if the
vault happens to be sold? They are cremated or
moved to a new location.
Each vault is privately owned and maintained, so
there is a wide disparity in levels of care (from
exquisite to decrepit), style (from post-modern to
rustic), and display (from ostentatious to simple).
Some vaults have their own chapels. Many have
stained glass windows and altars with flowers. A
few have photos of loved ones or of the deceased.
Some statues are exquisite and capture the
essence of the person who passed away. For
example, one young woman of 26 who died in an
avalanche in Switzerland was sculpted in her
wedding dress accompanied by her favorite dog.
If you want a true horror story, ask about the
young woman buried alive here in the early 1900's.
Of course, we and everyone else on the tour were
most interested in seeing the tomb of Evita Peron,
which is located in a narrow side alley. The tomb,
owned by Eva's sister, is under the name of Duarte
(Eva’s maiden name) and is surprisingly simple
and unobtrusive for such an important figure in
Argentinian history.
| Robin stands on one of the wider "streets" in the cemetery in front of the "menorah" tomb |
| Only the main "avenue" through the cemetery has substantial trees or foliage |
| A rare splash of color at the end of one of the narrower "side-streets" |
| Evita's tomb, surprisingly modest, on a side street |
| A true city of the dead with paved streets and lamps (in case you want to visit at night) |
| An elaborate iron gate leading into a vault |
| A "theme tomb" honoring Italian immigrants to Argentina |
| Notice the small "street sign" on the post -- it designates the lane as Mausoleo Sarmiento |
| Recoleta Cemetery was a jaw-dropper for me; I had no idea what to expect and was blown away by the elaborate nature of the tombs and statues |
| The topmost portion of one of the premier sculptures in the cemetery -- a woman raised out of her coffin by an angel and led up to heaven |
