La Chacarita is the national cemetery of Argentina, and also the country’s largest. It doesn’t get near the attention that Recoleta gets, which might explain why I saw maybe 10 other people and was asked twice if I was looking for something in the 90 minutes I was there.
The enormous cemetery was established in 1887 following a yellow fever epidemic and is 230 acres. It is chock full of notable figures including scientists (Nobel laureate Bernardo Houssay), artists (Antonio Berni, whose work I included in the MALBA post), and tango luminaries (Homero Manzi, Ángel Villoldo, Osvaldo Pugliese, and many others). There are a number of former presidents, though they seem mostly from dictatorship eras, and also labor leaders and at least one guerrilla leader. Botanical garden designer and namesake Carlos Thays is buried here, as well. La Chacarita is absolutely full of Argentina’s history.
It is, unsurprisingly, also chock full of fancy, fancy vaults.
Group pantheons and vaults are also very common.
Let’s look at two of the most famous burials in La Chacarita. First up, Carlos Gardel, immensely famous and important tango guy.
The figure on the left is the man himself, who died tragically at the height of his career, at age 45. Visitors often leave lit cigarettes in his hand. The figure on the right mournfully hunches over a broken lyre.
This is the tomb Jorge Newbery, aviation hero and namesake of one of Buenos Aires’s airports (although generally, that airport is referred to as “Aeroparque”). He died in a plane crash at age 38. Whoever designed his tomb really brought the drama.
Don’t for a second think that I don’t believe with my whole being that this is incredibly awesome.
There are some pretty nice sculptures in La Chacarita, too.
Just in case you’re not flush with crypt-levels of cash, the cemetery has several columbarium walls, the oldest of which (at least, as it appeared to me) serve in places as the cemetery’s border wall.
The newer interments of this type are actually below ground, in a sort of open-air cavern of columbarium walls.
I didn’t get a picture of the main entry of La Chacarita, as I came in one of the side gates, or a bunch of other buildings and tombs; the place is so freakin’ big, you guys. I didn’t go into the British or German sections at all (I didn’t even find them). I’m going to go back at some point, so I will post on those sections when I do.
El Cementerio de La Chacarita is the largest single thing in La Chacarita, with several bus lines and a few stops on the B subway line right near it. It’s open from 7:30 am to 5 pm. There’s a free tour in Spanish on the second and fourth Saturdays every month at 10 am (cancelled if it’s raining); check the website for the most up to date information available.
The Exhibitist 