Argentina
November 6-29, 2009
November 7: Arriving in Buenos Aires
Recoleta Cemetery
In around 1720, Franciscan monks set up a monastery in present-day Recoleta. They were drawn to the area by its tranquillity, which was deemed perfect for meditation or "recollection". A hundred years later the monks were ejected by the city governor and La Recoleta Cemetery was created in the monastery's gardens.
The recoleta cemetery is a mixture of architectural whimsy and a panorama of Argentine history. Giant vaults, stacked along avenues inside the high walls, resemble the rooftops of a fanciful Utopian town from above. It is a city within a city.
Political figures, military heros, artists, scientists and financiers can all be found in Recoleta. To be buried here nowadays you need not only money and status, but also great family ties. And although many of the famous tombs are sign posted, such is not the case with the cemetery's most famour resident: Evita. However you can still easily find her family's plain, polished balck granite vault marked "Familia Duarte" by following the tourists to the pile of bouquets by her vault.
Besides Evita's resting place, we were also on the lookout of 2 geocaches in the cemetery but a bouncing gps signal and lots of muggles caused us to give up our search.
A first glimpse at the ornate mausoleums of the recoleta cemetary.
Samantha with a statue near the entrance.
Lots of military folks honoured here.
Samantha liked the tree.
A succulent growing on the bark of a tree. Note the cobwebs... they look much more cocoon like than regular spiderwebs.
Some of the vaults are in a bad state of disrepair.
Samantha found the flowers, bark, fruits, branches and pinecones
very interesting and had quite the collection by the end of the day!
Christopher thought this was a great place for napping... will have to remember to bring his hat with all the sun here!
Memories of Halloween... :)
Beautiful artwork.
We really liked how the flowering vines were growing on this sculpture.
A bigger view of the sculpture.
Samantha especially liked the flower.
A city of mausoleums within the city of Buenos Aires.
Lots of the mausoleums are in need of repair.
In this one you can see how the coffins are stacked on shelves with a little altar next to them.
Little stained glass roof tops.
Do you think any of the other x-men are buried here too? ;-)
If one could call a skull 'cute'...
The leaves looked like maples, but we've never seen nuts on maples!
The Duarte mausoleum was the only one we saw that was decorated with recently placed flowers...
... Eva Perron being part of the Duarte family (think Evita!)
Another shot of the Duarte mausoleum.
And here's a shot of all the tourists surrounding this site.
Sam and Christopher's favourite part of the cemetery... the cats!
Sammy and the cats.
A poinsettia... it is after all almost Christmas!
Sammy in the Recoleta cemetery.
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