Old mausoleums in Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina 20 Jan 2017

Posted on 20 Jan 2017
Old mausoleums in the famous Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Old mausoleums in the famous Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Old mausoleums in the famous Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About this photo

Walk the streets of La Recoleta Cemetery to take a journey through the history of Argentina. Mausoleums of former presidents, sporting personalities, actresses, generals and admirals can be found among the 6,400 tombs here. Traditionally, in Buenos Aires, burials took place in church grounds but in 1822 sacred land started to run out. La Recoleta Cemetery (originally named the Northern Cemetery) was the city's answer. It was designed and built as a small city with streets and plazas laid out in blocks, lined with trees and mausoleums. 

In 1881, a redesign added the neo-classical entrance and the name was changed to La Recoleta Cemetery. Life-size statues of the dead stand guarding their own tombs in styles of Art Novo, Baroque and Neo-Gothic. Take a guided tour to learn the stories behind the mausoleums by adding a stop at La Recoleta Cemetery on any of Insight Guides’ trips to Argentina.

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Peter Zaharov/Shutterstock