Top 10 Buenos Aires

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Pantheon of Outstanding Citizens
^ This historical corner of the cemetery contains
the tombs of several Independence-era heroes.
Alongside the tombs, cenotaphs commemorate other
pivotal figures from the same period.
José C. Paz
Resting place of the
founder of La Prensa
newspaper, this is the
cemetry’s most beautiful
monument (left). An
allegory of the immortal
soul, it depicts an angel
leaving its body and hoisting
the soul heavenward.
( William Brown
Brown’s fame as founder
of Argentina’s navy is overshadowed
in death by the
tragic story of his daughter,
whose ashes lie here too.
She drowned herself after
her fiance’s death.
)
Pantheon of
the Fallen in the
1890 Revolution
This memorial (right)
remembers the dead
from the failed revolution.
Sculptures depict
workers brandishing
rifles. Several leaders of
the Radical Party are
buried here.
* Carlos Pellegrini
&
As president in 1890,
Pellegrini steered the
country through a severe
financial crisis. His
magnificent tomb sees
him issuing orders from
atop his coffin. A female
figure and child, symbolizing
the republic and its
future, stand at his feet.
Dorrego-Ortíz
Basualdo
This sepulcher (above)
features both a crucifix
and a menorah, symbolizing
the conversion from
Judaism to Catholicism
of this family’s ancestors
on arrival in Argentina in
the 16th century.
Origins of the
Cementerio de
la Recoleta
This cemetery was built
in 1822, on what was
then the northern limit
of the city. The land was
confiscated by the
Argentinian government
from the Recoleta
monks of the adjacent
Pilar Church. The city’s
first public cemetery, it
was used initially for the
burial of freed slaves
and the proletariat
before it became the
reserve of the rich from
1860s onward.
Souvenir books on the cemetery can be bought at the information
stand near the entrance. Proceeds go to cemetery upkeep.
Buenos Aires’ Top 10
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