One of the must-see attractions of Buenos Aires is La Recoleta Cemetery – one of the most extraordinary in the world. It’s a metaphor for the city: dense, extravagant, lovingly maintained in parts, decayed in others and saturated with class, politics and culture, if you know what you’re looking at.
Situated tightly in the Recoleta district, only 14 acres, it must be the most expensive real estate in BA, if not in the Americas.
It’s also an architectural petting zoo – examples of almost every style imaginable, taken to extremes.
It’s also a textbook of the famous and infamous, and both, from Argentinian history, including, of course, Eva Peron. But you won’t have an easy time finding her grave. They won’t actually tell you where it is.
Evita made it clear she did not want a major mausoleum in a prominent site, nor would that have gone down well considering her neighbours. The past is still present.
After dealing with the deaths of close elders and friends over the last few years I kinda like the simple idea of a small but meaningful ceremony amongst loved ones to place my ashes in the ocean off Lighthouse Park. I don’t really get the need to immortalize people who are no more, especially under various religious connotations. They are gone, and hopefully they lived their lives well, but that’s it.
But seeing the photo of the stunning Art Deco crypt for the de Urquiza familia I can certainly appreciate the need of the living to demonstrate their culture and identity, and in very beautiful structural terms. That is for the living, and it’s a deep-seated trait in many cultures. There is also an appreciation for the creative works the dead leave behind.
Another beauty is Carlo Scarpa’s Brion Cemetery.
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The fifth image above looks like a giant art deco moth.
“But you won’t have an easy time finding her[Eva Peron’s] grave. They won’t actually tell you where it is.”
Perhaps not on the sign, but I’m pretty sure every Argentine could tell you exactly where it is within the cemetery.