In the curious Buenos Aires , capital of Argentina, is located the cemetery of Chacarita, known not only for housing the remains of a number of famous people of this South American country, but also for being the largest cemetery in the capital. Today we will talk about this interesting place, which has become one of the most visited in the country. Are you ready to discover 10 curiosities of the cemetery of Chacarita? Let's start!
With more than 100 years of existence, despite having been closed on one occasion, the cemetery of Chacarita is an area of great interest for tourists who visit this city of Argentina . This is because the cemetery located in the homonymous neighborhood keeps important historical data that would be ideal to know, especially if you plan to travel to Buenos Aires to do a bit of tourism or if, in fact, you live in this capital.
10 Curiosities of the Chacarita Cemetery | The largest in Buenos Aires
1. Chacarita cemetery was inaugurated in 1871, specifically, on April 14, which ensures that it has more than 145 years of existence.
2. This graveyard occupies 95 hectares, therefore, It is the largest cemetery in Buenos Aires .
3. Although its official name is Cementerio de la Chacarita, it is also known under the name of West Cemetery or Crematorium of the City of Buenos Aires (name he received in the year 1903).
4. The construction of the cemetery of Chacarita started due to the need in the city to bury the remains of people who had died because of an epidemic of yellow fever that happened in the year 1871. Due to the lack of graveyards, and the restriction of the burial of people who had died from this disease, taken by the cemetery in the north of Buenos Aires, the project was started as soon as possible.
5. The cemetery of La Chacarita had deplorable hygienic conditions, in fact, during its first years 14 employees died for this reason.
6. The number of corpses that arrived at the Argentine cemetery was really surprising. According to historians, daily, more than 500 bodies could be cremated .
7. To facilitate the process of receiving the bodies, a tram was created for the Chacarita cemetery, specifically, the Funeral Tram, which reached the Funeral Station on Corrientes Avenue.
8. Due to the importance of the Chacarita cemetery, its services were improved and, after being closed on December 9, 1886, it was reopened on December 30, 1896, opening as Chacarita the New .
9. Some of the personalities that are buried in the cemetery of Chacarita are: Guillermo Stábile, Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, Amelia Bence, Evaristo Carriego, Adolfo Castelo, Gustavo Cerati , Eduardo Luis Duhalde, Bernardo Houssay, among others.
10. In 1890 the cemetery of Chacarita began to improve its facilities, leaving aside the unhygienic past of this cemetery. The area was decorated, including sculptures by Luis Perlotti, stained glass, replicas of known monuments in the European continent and more. In addition, they began to add pantheons with much more detail in its construction.
