Cementerio de la Recoleta

We have finally gotten back to blogging. When you last visited, we were in Mar del Plata visiting the Lobos. After Mar del Plata, we returned to Comodoro Rivadavia and are now in Buenos Aires taking Nathanael's 28 days off. The next couple of blogs will be themed according to different sites, architecture, or other adventures. So, here is the first of many: The Recoleta Cemetery.

The Recoleta Cemetery is a collection of mausoleums. Many greats including Evita Peron are laid to rest here. Elaborate statues and uniquely fashioned graves mark the burial sites of presidents, politicians, writers, and other influential and important Argentines. In a city brimming with incredible architecture, el Cementerio de la Recoleta is an architectural tour of its own. This cemetery left us awestruck when we expected to be a little disgusted by the morbidity of it all.

Beware: MANY pictures to follow. If you want to see a bigger image, simply click on the picture. And, if this isn't enough...keep an eye on Nathanael's flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40231079@N02/.

Many mausoleums were religious:

Some were militaristic:

Some modern:


Others ancient:


Some were down right huge:


And here are some of our favorite statues in the cementerio:


So what does Eva Peron's mausoleum look like? A woman remembered for helping the working class and the poor.

"Don't cry for me you who are lost,

I am an essential part of your existence,

all of my love and pain was expected,

attribute my humility to the imitation of Christ,

who walked in the path that I follow.

His disciples. "

(that's my best attempt at translation)

And one last reminder that we were in a cemetery (not found on Eva's grave):