Wɔatintim: 20.10.2024
The Recoleta Cemetery houses many of the country's most important figures in mostly opulent mausoleums - in addition to several presidents, also Evita Perón.
For us tourists, access to the cemetery requires an entry fee - understandable given the visitor numbers. We take a well-guided tour through the winding paths. In the city of the dead, there are over 6000 graves. The area is so large that we quickly feel alone and surrounded by tranquility.
A countless number of books could be written about the lives and deaths of numerous celebrities. The story of Evita and her corpse is just one of them. Her husband, President Perón, had her embalmed after her death in 1952. However, after Perón's overthrow, her body was stolen and buried under false names in Milan. After 17 years, it was finally brought back from Milan to Buenos Aires and her family ultimately laid her to rest relatively discreetly in the family grave.
There are many more stories... Liliana Crociati de Szaszak: The young woman died unexpectedly on her honeymoon when an avalanche crashed down on her hotel near Innsbruck. She was immortalized alongside her beloved dog at her grave.
Rufina Cambaceres collapsed on the evening of her 19th birthday and was declared dead by doctors. Coming from a good family, she was buried the very next day, as was customary at the time. The cemetery keeper heard noises at night and discovered that the coffin lid was slightly ajar. There were scratch marks on the inside of the lid, and Rufina's face and hands were mangled. She is said to have been buried alive and subsequently died of shock from a heart attack.
The working-class district