Because I could not stop for death
I like to visit cemeteries when I travel. A bit odd, I realize, but I find it interesting to see how different regions memorialize their dead. Usually, the smaller and poorer the community is, the more diverse the cemetery is. For example, in a few small town Nevada cemeteries I saw: graves piled entirely with stones to keep animals out, a grave with a wheelbarrow at the head filled with stones amongst them a stone with the death information for a miner, or a sheet of metal with information scratched into it. This diversity is what I expected to find in the cemeteries of Patagonia as well. But, surprisingly, I did not. With few exceptions, the graves of the poor were marked with a single cross while the graves of the rich used standard modern headstones and the graves of the very rich are small mausoleums. Some of the few unusual included a grave surrounded by upside down, half buried soda bottles; a metal heart punctured with nails to write the information of the deceased, and a mausoleum that was so 50’s styled, complete with a cursive metal nameplate, that I expected Donna Reed to come out the door at any moment.
Buenos Aires contains the very famous (and full of tourists) Recoleta Cemetary. It is massive space where the mausoleums are packed shoulder to shoulder with brick paved walks between the aisles. It truly feels like a small city, mostly populated by cats, and it is very easy to get lost within the tall mausoleums. Some of them even have spiral stair cases leading into the ground below them (creepy!). There are many gorgeous stained glass windows in the various mausoleums and there are indeed many styles of mausoleum, of course all with the bounds of what is proper in the world of the extremely wealthy. Recoleta Cemetery was interesting – but I certainly wouldn’t find any wheelbarrow headstones or carved wooden statues of gold miners. All in all, the cemeteries did not match the variety of landscape and community I found in Argentina.
Buenos Aires contains the very famous (and full of tourists) Recoleta Cemetary. It is massive space where the mausoleums are packed shoulder to shoulder with brick paved walks between the aisles. It truly feels like a small city, mostly populated by cats, and it is very easy to get lost within the tall mausoleums. Some of them even have spiral stair cases leading into the ground below them (creepy!). There are many gorgeous stained glass windows in the various mausoleums and there are indeed many styles of mausoleum, of course all with the bounds of what is proper in the world of the extremely wealthy. Recoleta Cemetery was interesting – but I certainly wouldn’t find any wheelbarrow headstones or carved wooden statues of gold miners. All in all, the cemeteries did not match the variety of landscape and community I found in Argentina.
Oops, the URL is a hyperlink on my name. Let's try this:
http://www.peterlyons.com/app/photos?gallery=portugalphoto=evora_bones
Posted by: Pete | May 23, 2008 at 12:14 AM
Check out these photos from the Capella dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) in Portugal.
Posted by: Pete | May 23, 2008 at 12:13 AM