Recoleta Cemetery

Recoleta Cemetery

Recoleta was the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires, opened in 1822.  The first grave, in 1823, was a simple one for the wife of San Martin, the first President of the independent BsAs.  Over time, the rich and powerful of BsAs built their mausoleums here and as the wealth of the country grew, so did the quality of the crypts.As the tour guide put it, they would build a house in the city, a castle in the countryside, and a mausoleum in Recoleta Cemetery.

The family tombs can generally hold about 20 coffins. Many are decorated with stonework and metalwork ordered from Europe and there are some incredibly detailed sculptures that are regarded as works of art in their own right.

It is quite strange to walk down all of these little ‘streets’ of tombs, overlooked by multiple stone angels.

I quite liked the story of the family who buried their longstanding housekeeper along the outside edge of their family tomb, so as in life she stayed alongside them but not actually with them.

Rufina's tomb

A much sadder story was that of Rufina, a young girl who died and was buried, but later was found to have not been dead at all.  She had tried to escape from the coffin and the staff noticed that it had moved a little, but when they opened it they were too late and this time she really was dead.

The family added beautiful art nouveau decoration, with a sculpture of Rufina with her hand on the door of the tomb.  It is said that she is one of the many ghosts that walk the cemetery at night and play with the many stray (but well fed) cats that live there.

Eva Peron's tomb 

Of course the reason that many people visit Recoleta Cemetery is to visit the tomb of Evita.  She is buried deep down in the Duarte family tomb.  It is a small tomb in one of the ‘side streets’, but there are constantly people there.