Thursday, 9 October 2014
Luckily for me (for once!) it was only drizzling so the English tour went on as scheduled at 11 am, and these were some of the tombs I saw:
1. Alvear, a general in the Argentine military and an important historical figure in Argentina.
2. Juan Facundo Quiroga, a brutal dictator - his tomb is small because he was buried standing, a sign of valour, at his request.
3. The Pantheon of Outstanding Citizen - this corner of the cemetery is more significant in its importance than its grandeur. Here, many of the most important people from the time of Argentina's independence are buried, and even those from that period who aren't buried here are commemorated with plaques and cenotaphs. A cenotaph is an empty monument or tomb, more for significance than anything else, the bodies are buried or cremated elsewhere.
4. Guillermo Rawson, a doctor and politician.
5. Cornelio Saavedra, a former president of Argentina.
6. Guillermo Brown - this memorial celebrates the man who founded the Argentine navy, but it also holds the remains of his daughter, who committed suicide by drowning after her fiancé died.
7. Remedios de Escalada de San Martin, the wife of General San Martin, the man who was instrumental in Argentina's independence. She was 26 when she died, and her tomb is modest, most probably because San Martin was frequently overseas and didn't have the time to oversee the construction of a more beautiful tomb for his wife.
8. Pantheon of the Fallen in the 1890 Revolution - this is a memorial to outstanding citizens who lost their lives in the revolution of 1890, as well as many of the leaders of the Radical Party.
9. Roberto Noble, the founder of the Clarin newspapers. His tomb has a beautiful tainted glass within the vault.
10. Carlos Pelligrini - an influential man in Argentina, and one of the most celebrated presidents in death, he was responsible for leading the nation through an unbearably difficult financial period in the late 1800s. Today, he can be seen conducting business above his coffin, with 2 figures at his side; the female represents the republic, and the child represents the people or the future.
11. Antonio Fahy, a priest.
12. Julio Argentino Roca, a former president of Argentina.
13. Evita Peron - considered the spiritual leader of the nation, and her death was greatly mourned. She died of ovarian cancer when she was just 33. She fought for many civil liberties, and is still one of the most treasured figures of Argentine's past. Here, she is buried as Eva Duarte, in a relatively modest tomb, although there are plaques commemorating her and her life. To prevent her body from being stolen, as it happened many times by the various military governments installed after her husband's fall from grace in 1955, she was finally buried in a concrete vault 8.1 m underground in 1976. After her husband died, there were requests that she be buried beside her husband but her family, the Duartes, refused.
14. The Leloir Family - a grand family crypt typical of the motivated and optimistic attitude of the mid-19th century Argentine upper class. It is built like a Greek temple, and its statues were constructed in Europ
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