Sunday, April 29, 2018

'The awesome Havana Cemetery' by K.J.S.Chatrath

My visit to the  cemetery to Christopher Columbus Cemetery (Cemetario de Colon) in Havana, Cuba really left me awe struck. I had very little idea of the size of the cemetery and the number of beautifully carved tombs stones in pure white carrara marble. Named after  Christopher Columbus, this cemetery is one of the largest and the most ornate in the world.  It  was designed by Spanish architect, Calixto de Loira  and was built during 1871-1886.

This necropolis has 20 kilometres of pathways, and was declared a national monument in 1987. With more than 800,000 graves and 1 million interments, like many other cemeteries in the world there is a paucity of burial space in this cemetery. The buried remains are removed from their tombs, boxed and placed in a storage building after three years.

Let us take a walk.

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Cementerio Cristóbal Colón entranceway is 22.5 metres tall. It was sculpted in 1904 by Cuban artist, José Villalta Saavedra.

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Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionatrias was built in 1955. It is a large pantheon that houses Cuban heroes of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

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Monument to the common man (aam admi)!
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There is a ticket of 5 CUCs for foreigners visiting this cemetery.
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Photographs, text and copyright by K.J.S.Chatrath.
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This post was earlier put up on March 4, 2013 in my website www.gravematters.in

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