As places to mark your exit from this life go, Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires isn’t bad. In fact, it’s considered one of the most beautiful Cities of the Dead in the World.
Main entrance (and exit) to Cementerio de la Recoleta
The streets of the Recoleta necropolis run for miles. Some are broad and leafy, others narrow and claustrophobic. The cemetery covers an area of 14 acres and contains over 6400 tombs and mausoleums. Even a brief tour of just some of its highlights with our guide Pablo Piera took us a couple of hours
The houses of the after life in Recoleta cover every style imaginable, from simple to ornate, from gothic to modernistic, and everything in between.
The cemetery is like a Who’s Who of Argentinean history. Anyone who’s anyone in Argentina is buried there, from presidents to artists, from soldiers to scientists. Here are a few examples…
President Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín
Irish-born Admiral William Brown, founder of the Argentine Navy
The largest mausoleum in Recoleta belongs to Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Luis Federico Leloir
María Eva Duarte de Perón, a.k.a. Evita
Rufina Cambacérès, who became more famous after her death:
A few days after her funeral it was discovered she’d woken up in her coffin and tried (unsuccessfully) to escape after being buried alive! Shudder!
Who knew X-Men got buried in Recoleta?!
There are many tales of partnership played out in the cemetery, some good, some bad some ugly…
Good: General Luis María Campos was a the founder of the Escuela Superior de Guerra (Superior School of War). If I remember the story correctly, the lady kneeling down to the left of his monument is his wife, welcoming him with a bunch of flowers.
Bad: Salvador María del Carril was Argentina’s first Vice President and has an ornate tomb in Recoleta. Unfortunately, he and his wife, Tiburcia, did not exit this world as partners. So when she died, 15 years after him, she had a bust of herself placed so that she could forever have her back turned to him.
Ugly: Ramón Lorenzo Falcón became chief of Argentina’s Federal Police in 1906. During his time in office, he developed a reputation for his repressive (and sometimes lethal) tactics against protestors. He and his executive secretary, Juan Alberto Lartigau, were assassinated by a homemade bomb in 1909. Partners in life, their graves now stand side-by-side in one corner of the cemetery.
Ramón Lorenzo Falcón
Juan Alberto Lartigau
Really Ugly: South American politics in the 1860s was a messy affair. And Paraguay’s decision to march its army through Argentina on its way to Uruguay, despite Argentina refusing to give permission, turned out to be disastrous. Argentina partnered up with Brazil and Uruguay, and even conservative estimates state that within five years a full half of Paraguay’s population was dead. The Panteón de los Guerreros del Paraguay commemorates the partnership between the three allies.
Good: Liliana Crociati de Szaszak was sadly killed in an avalanche in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1970, when only 26 years old. When her dog, Sabú, died some years later, a statue of Liliana and Sabú was added to the young woman’s memorial. Since then, a story has grown up that if you rub Sabú’s nose, you’ll one day return to Buenos Aires.
I’m sure that Liliana and Sabú would be happy to know that canine visitors to Recoleta are well cared for!
This post is inspired by this week’s photo challenges of Exits from Ailsa of Where’s My Backpack?, Partners from Michelle of the Daily Post, After from Hugh of Hugh’s News and Views, and Jo’s Monday Walk.
If you’re the sort of person that loves to experience local history on your travels, why not sign up and follow my continuing Journeys here at Jaspa’s Journal (on WordPress or Bloglovin’), or through my website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr?
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Heavens, it’s huge, Jaspa! Delusions of grandeur in the afterlife 🙂 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I guess they all think bigger is better, Jo!
Great collection.
Thanks very much, Jon!
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I was fascinated by the cemetery too. I couldn’t get over the size!
And the way there are so many tombs crammed into it, Anisa.
My goodness, this is like a city of the dead. I’m amazed at just how great condition the whole place is. Compared to the UK, this place is in far better condition than some of our own High Streets.
Thanks for the tour, Jaspa.
It certainly is well tended, for the most part, Hugh. I actually have a photo of some workers repairing one of the mausoleums.
That is so good to hear. I only wish we did the same in the UK.
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I really enjoy visiting old cemeteries and this looks a fabulous one! Interesting history too.
I love old cemeteries too, Anabel. In fact, in the Jaspa’s Journey books, my friend Gravee grew up in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh.
Great photos. I love places like that (not for the dead). I think they are incredibly interesting.
I totally agree, Peyton!
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