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All Cuba Havana Colón Cemetery

Colón Cemetery

In terms of history and architecture, this is one of the most remarkable cemeteries in the world.

Havana, Cuba

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Mausoleum and monuments   bbmexplorer on Flickr and at www.bbmexplorer.com
Firefighter Memorial   bbmexplorer on Flickr and at www.bbmexplorer.com
Central Chapel   bbmexplorer on Flickr and at www.bbmexplorer.com
A few of the 500+ monuments   nataliemaynor on Flickr
A few more   kurt-b on Flickr
Main entrance   zoonabar on Flickr
Avenida Cristóbal Colón terminating in Central Chapel   refreshment_66 on Flickr
Art deco mausoleum entrance   nimdok on Flickr
Sagrado Corazón   nimdok on Flickr
El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón Oct 2023   misszon / Atlas Obscura User
Pyramid   Avoiding Regret
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Top of entryway arch   tangoelvis / Atlas Obscura User
Details from the monument for the firefighters   tangoelvis / Atlas Obscura User
Amelia and her baby   tangoelvis / Atlas Obscura User
Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club fame   tangoelvis / Atlas Obscura User
January 2017   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
January 2017   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
January 2017   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Colón Cemetery - Main Chapel   armercer / Atlas Obscura User
Colón Cemetery   armercer / Atlas Obscura User
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Entrance El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón Oct 2023   misszon / Atlas Obscura User
Backlit at sundown   mocchiatto / Atlas Obscura User
  ampowell / Atlas Obscura User
Tomb of Cuban chess champion José Raul Capablanca   ampowell / Atlas Obscura User
Colon Cemetery   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Colon Cemetery   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Colon Cemetery, Havana   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
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About

When you think of world-class cemeteries, places like Paris, London, New Orleans, or Buenos Aires might come to mind. But this cemetery in the heart of Havana is as stately and impressive as any of the more familiar "haunts" (sorry).

Established in 1876, the Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón was named after Christopher Columbus and designed by a Madrid-educated Galician architect by the name of Calixto Arellano de Loira y Cardoso. Built around a central chapel that was loosely modeled after the Florence Cathedral (aka "Il Duomo"), the 150-acre cemetery is laid out in a grid of main central avenues and smaller side streets. As planned by Loira, the layout organizes the occupants of the cemetery according to their rank and social status, with the wealthy and well-connected occupying prominent spots on main thoroughfares while more lowly individuals (such as the condemned, victims of epidemics, and "pagans") are relegated to the "suburbs."

Colón Cemetery contains over 500 major mausoleums, chapels, and family vaults, with styles running from renaissance to neoclassical to art deco. In addition to the countless stunning examples of funerary architecture, unique sites include: an elaborate 75-foot-tall memorial for firefighters who died in a disastrous citywide fire in 1890; mausolea for various trade and professional organizations (such as the Workers Society of La Tropical Brewery); special monuments dedicated to two baseball players, a chess champion (shaped like a white king piece), and a dedicated domino player (shaped like a double-three domino); and the burial sites of a remarkable number of poets, filmmakers and musicians, including Ibrahim Ferrer Planas of the original Buena Vista Social Club. One can also find here and there abandoned and unmaintained tombs and chapels of families now living in exile.

The very first occupant of Colón Cemetery was the architect Loira himself, who died before the project was finished. Currently, the cemetery holds over 800,000 graves and included a million interments. This of course means that space for this still-operational cemetery is a premium, so typically remains are removed after three years to be boxed up and put in storage (yes, you read that correctly) in order to make room for new interments.

Related Tags

Cemeteries Mausoleums Funeral Art Tombs Graveyards

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vturiserra

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littlebrumble, Avoiding Regret, RHyzer, armercer...

  • littlebrumble
  • Avoiding Regret
  • RHyzer
  • armercer
  • tangoelvis
  • caroli02
  • ampowell
  • ccesare
  • mocchiatto
  • misszon

Published

January 25, 2016

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Sources
  • http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba/colon-cemetery.htm
  • http://www.interment.net/data/cuba/lahabana/colon/index.htm
  • http://thirdeyemom.com/2014/05/16/colon-cemetery-havanas-work-of-art/
  • http://www.cuba-junky.com/havana/necropolis-cristobal-colon.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_Cemetery,_Havana
  • http://www.avoidingregret.com/2016/12/photo-essay-cemetery-where-fidel-didnt.html
Colón Cemetery
Calle 12
Havana
Cuba
23.123079, -82.39959
Get Directions

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