Errantes Magazine :: Issue # 2 :: La Recoleta Cementery :: BsAs

ISSUE 2 ERRANTES MAGAZINE Director: FABIAN PULIDO Photography: www.fabianpulido.com

La Recoleta Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy and a granddaughter of Napoleon. In 2011, the BBC hailed it as one of the world’s best cemeteries, and in 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world.

From the end of the nineteenth-century to the start of the 1920s, the Recoleta neighborhood has witnessed the construction of a great number of “châteaux” (often imitating those of the Loire valley in France), as well as Parisian style petits hôtels, almost always designed by architects of French origin. The major portion of the building materials (boiseries, slate roof tiles, marble for staircases, bronze and iron work, chandeliers with lead crystal prisms, glass lamp shades, ornate gilded mirrors, and beveled lead crystal window panes, mosaics, etc.) were brought from Europe. But just as it occurred in other neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, these grand buildings, in large part, have been demolished since the 1960s due to the realities of the real estate market: on the land that held an extraordinary private mansion, several ordinary modern buildings could be erected. Currently several neighborhood groups which organize

marches, meetings, and other events are working to halt further destruction of existing landmarks. In spite of the demolitions, Recoleta still displays a rich architectural legacy. Outstanding examples are on Alvear Avenue, where such buildings as the Palacio Duhau (former property of the Duhau family), the Nunciature of the Vatican (the Fernández Anchorena Palace), the French Embassy (former Ortiz Basualdo Palace), the Brazilian Embassy (former Pereda Palace), the Jockey Club, and the luxurious Alvear Palace Hotel. All over Recoleta, petits hôtels which contrast with larger and more modern apartment buildings, still grace the neighborhood.

There are approximately 80 cats at the Recoleta cemetery. The cats are part tour guides and part watchful guardians to the 4800 tombs of famous Argentines that lay on 5.4 acres of cemetery grounds.

Cats have been part of Recoleta history for at least the past 20 years. They’ve been cared for spay/neutered, fed twice daily and a few have even pawed their way into a new home by winning over the hearts of visitors.

A colony of cats is a group of cats that band together and share (live) in an area together. There are various colonies through out the cemetery - some of the cats are extremely friendly while others are timid and cautious. Sadly, many of these cats were dumped or abandoned on the cemetery grounds. Lost and stray cats have found their way to this safe haven too.

The expense of feeding the cats about 8lbs of kibble a day, including supplements has taken it’s toll on the colony caretaker who has absorbed the entire cost for the past 20 years.

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