Cementario de la Recoleta

On Tuesday of this week we had our consultation with the Tour/Activities Director provided by the school. He was mas o meno helpful (that means so-so). So, that afternoon I took off on my own and went to visit Recoleta Cemetery. It is a very old cemetery in one of the more upscale barrios of Buenos Aires. It is like a small "city of the dead" because it is all mausoleums. So you are walking down pathways between mini-buildings. It feels like you are walking in a mini-city. The mausoleums are quite interesting, with many quite stunning. There are many famous people in Buenos Aires and Argentine history buried here, including Eva Duarte Person, the famous "Evita". Her grave is still the most visited and there are flowers left on the door by admiring patrons. In the pictures you will see a shot of the people gathered at her tomb. I did not experience this at any other tomb in the cemetery and there were quite a few people wandering around. The guidebook says that eventually, to prevent the various generals and political people from stealing her body, they had to bury it 27 feet down in concrete! There are also many former presidents of Argentine buried here, along with various senators and generals, etc. Also buried here is Jose C. Paz, the founder of the famous paper "La Prensa." He was one of the wealthiest men in Buenos Aires once, and built the grandest house in town. So, as you will see in the pictures, his family tomb had to be grand as well. It is not the largest, but one of the most beautiful, with polished black granite walls and stunningly white marble angels sculpted from the same Italian marble which Michelangelo used. There are also some fascinating juxtapositions of symbols in the cemetery, interesting use of statues to create dioramas of mourning, and in intriguing use of Egyptian symbols as well. Enjoy the pictures by using the following links to the Kodak Gallery Albums I have posted.

This link will take you to an album with general pictures of the cemetery:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.8zvk1qi2&x=0&y=-jr9tt3&localeid=en_US
This link will take you to the album with pictures of Eva Peron's grave:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.92a19cq2&x=0&y=b883mi&localeid=en_US

This link will take you to the album with my pictorial study of some of the Angels of Recoleta:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.b15dmuju&x=0&y=8jpksu&localeid=en_US