Recoleta Cemetery

The Recoleta Cemetery is one of the top three tourist attractions in Buenos Aires. The unusual method of burial is impressive: coffins with the deceased are not buried in the ground, but placed above the surface. A crypt is installed above the coffin, which looks like a house. In such a "house" several people are buried, members of the same family – a kind of "communal apartment" for the deceased. Due to the abundance of crypts-"houses" the cemetery looks like a fantastic city located in a small area. There are more than 5 thousand crypts with buried tens of thousands of the deceased. More than 90 of them belong to national monuments. Under the influence of time, the coffins collapse, revealing the remains. A very specific sight!

The first burials are dated to the end of the 19th century. The cemetery, located on the territory of the former monastery of the Franciscan Order, was intended for the elite. The crypts surprise with their embodied architectural fantasies, and the walls depict scenes from both the real life of the deceased and fictional ones. Without an experienced guide, a trip to the cemetery will take a long time and provide little information. It is worth preparing for it, having thought out in advance the plan of the graves of interest. Anyone can visit the Recoleta.

Evita Peron

Recoleta Cemetery is famous for its legends. There is an interesting and often mysterious story associated with each burial. The mysterious Evita Peron, the second wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, rests here. There are still various rumors about the beauty's younger years – from the dirtiest to the more democratic. She earned the respect and honor of Argentines with her generosity, and for women she achieved the right to vote. The beauty died of cancer in 1952, and her husband ordered her body to be embalmed.

Rufina Cambaceres

It is interesting to see the burial of Rufina Cambaceres. A sculpture of a young girl adorns the entrance to the crypt. Rufina is the daughter of an Argentine writer and a ballerina. After her father's death, the girl became more and more withdrawn. The girl's mother fell in love with the future president of Argentina, Hipolito Yrigoyena. This worsened the situation, and at the age of 19, Rufina died. She was buried, and a few days later, the caretaker was horrified to see that the coffin lid was open, and Rufina was lying next to it. It turned out that she had an attack of catalepsy (something like lethargic sleep) when she was mistaken for the deceased. When she woke up, she barely opened the lid, but could not get out – the crypt was locked, and there was no one in the cemetery of Recoleta. This time, the girl really died of a heart attack. They put a separate crypt for Rufina next to the family one.

The Dorrego Ortiz Basualdo family

The largest burial belongs to the Dorrego Ortiz Basualdo family. The crypt was created by French architect Louis Dubois at the beginning of the last century. The president who ruled at that time forbade burying the dead in church chapels. Therefore, the crypt of the family that opposed the decision was made in the form of a chapel with many mysterious signs and symbols.

The Recoleta Cemetery is full of romantic and scary stories related to the paranormal. After visiting it, indelible impressions remain in the memory.