Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Cemetario de Recoleta: Death of Humility

(This is a family crypt...not a church!!!)

Recoleta is Buenos Aires' ritziest barrio for both the living and the dead, as evidenced by its cemetary, which displays the most extreme version of keeping up with the Joneses (or Los Garcia, if you will) ever. As the city's top tourist attraction, the Cemetario de Recoleta is packed with gorgeously overwrought crypts and mausoleums and is a photographer's (and necrophile's) dream location. I spent about an hour and a half there, taking more than 50 photos and wishing I had more time and room on my memory card. It is definitely one of those places where you could take snapshots blindfolded and come up with something interesting and possibly beautiful.

However, despite the wealth of photo opps, most visitors come to the cemetary to shoot one thing...

the grave of the most famous portena, Eva Peron:

Evita's remains rest inside the Duarte (her maiden name) family crypt,


which is very modest when compared with these amazing shrines:







I suppose that if you're going to spend eternity in one place, you should probably pour all the money you can into it. Still, I don't know about you, but I think I'd like a little bit more space around me. The last thing I want to do is end up in a McCrypt development...

A patch of green grass might be nice...

or a shady spot under a tree...

(Note: These were the only graves I could find that were somewhat low-key)

More to come...

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