Cemeteries

“My biggest fear in life is to be forgotten.”
Eva Peron

Evita is far from forgotten. Not only is her legacy a lasting one in Argentina and the world, she is remembered each day by throngs of admirers who visit her nondescript family crypt in Cementerio de la Recoleta - a fact that not all of Buenos Aires' elite appreciate, mind you (she was a polarizing figure, after all). Her remains, political opinions aside, are in good company; presidents, military heroes, scientists, artists and well-known patrician families rest in peace among the same labyrinth of tombs.

The crowd surrounding Eva Perón's tomb.

Detail of Evita's grave.

Scenes from Recoleta ...

Cementerio de la Recoleta is an aristocratic cemetery; Cementerio de la Chacarita, on the other hand, is a cemetery for the masses. Chacarita is one of the largest cemeteries of in the world (234 acres). Not only is it spread out, it goes deep. Three subterranean levels, at least. It resembles a city, with signed and numbered streets. Chacarita came to be during the yellow fever epidemic of 1871 that decimated the older barrios in the southern part of the city (La Boca, San Telmo), and still holds multiple funerals each day.







Despite its working class roots, Chacarita has its fair share of celebrity graves as well. Its most famous resident is the idolized tango singer, Carlos Gardel. The fingers of his life-sized tuxedo-clad statue on his tomb nearly always hold a lit cigarette left by an admirer.