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Category: Current events

594. birthday bash

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recoleta Cemetery

Happy 200th birthday! Marcelo was unable to attend, but a series of activities throughout November commemorated the bicentennial of Recoleta Cemetery. Announced by the official website of the Buenos Aires city government, here’s their schedule of events:

  • Official commemorative act, November 17

  • Dramatization, November 19 at 18:00
    Directed by Hugo Aquino, the Clepsidra theater group will surprise as usual in its performances at various historical sites. This tour & its actors pull together 200 years of Argentine history from a religious, architectural, political & cultural perspective.

  • Symphony orchestra, November 24 at 18:00
    The Argentine Naval Prefecture symphony orchestra brings together 40 members to perform a repertoire that will include the Argentina national anthem as well as works by Brahms, Strauss & Dvorak.

  • Chamber vocal ensemble, November 26 at 18:00
    Created in 1970, the Chamber Vocal Ensemble —managed by the Undersecretary of Culture from the Municipality of Quilmes— is composed of music professionals who join the group through a rigorous competition. The choir is composed of 5 sopranos, 4 altos, 3 tenors & 5 bass singers that achieve a beautiful harmony. They have performed in emblematic places such as the Teatro Colon, the Teatro Cervantes & the Auditorio Belgrano among others.

  • Guided visit, November 30 at 21:00
    Commemorating the bicentennial of the cemetery, Mr. Eduardo Lazzari will accompany us in a nighttime tour without precedent. The route will include places of interest that bring together legends & stories that have been gathered throughout history.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recoleta Cemetery, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

In addition, the article lists ten must-see places to visit inside Recoleta Cemetery. We’ve written about these specific tombs or general areas, so each link below will take you directly to that post:

  1. Peristyle & monumental entrance
  2. Pantheon of Meritorious Citizens – Section once dedicated to Argentina’s forefathers, but most remains have since been moved to other locations. One later addition was Dr. Guillermo Rawson.
  3. Central statue of Christ
  4. Walkway parallel to Calle Azcuénaga – Long path with large mausoleums such as Adolfo Alsina, Toribio de Ayerza & Luis Ángel Firpo.
  5. Sculptures parallel to Calle Vicente López – Shorter walkway filled with grand statues like on the tombs of Juan Alberto Lartigau & Luis María Campos.
  6. María Eva Duarte de Perón mausoleum
  7. Leloir family mausoleum
  8. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento tomb
  9. Legend of Rufina Cambacérès
  10. Chapel
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recoleta Cemetery

Other press releases in local newspapers generally copied the official article linked above; however, one editorial piece in La Prensa caught my attention. Written by Roberto L. Elissalde, the article mentions some of the impressions that foreign visitors had while visiting Recoleta Cemetery as well as highlights the role of the cemetery’s first historian, Ricardo de Lafuente Machain. Worth a look if you can read Spanish.


If anyone has photos of the events mentioned above & would like to share, I’d be happy to post them here… & of course give proper credit!

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593. special anniversaries

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Recoleta Cemetery, Bartolomé Miter, funeral, velatorio,

Time to celebrate!! Recoleta Cemetery has been in operation for 200 years as of today! I’d hoped to make it back to Buenos Aires for such a special event, but Rafa & I are currently in Iowa visiting my aunt… family duty for the living calls 🙂

But I’m definitely there in spirit. How could I not be? By investigating the cemetery’s past, I’ve learned so much about Argentina. And instead of death, what fascinates me most are the lifetimes of those who rest in peace in Recoleta Cemetery. How families choose to be remembered as well as lessons they leave for the future are vital to understanding Argentina… both past & present.

Marcelo received the following invitation & plans to attend, so we’ll share his observations & photos too.



This month also holds another special anniversary: 15 years of blogging about Recoleta Cemetery! With all the twists & turns of life, I can’t believe I’ve been able to publish new content regularly… even after moving away from Argentina in 2015. If you look back to the beginning, the first post dates from 03 Oct 2007 —but I backposted in order to have more to read on launch in November. Sneaky.

This simple layout stayed for so many years to make it more accessible to everyone.

Although I’ve yet to publish all my photos of Recoleta Cemetery nor shared all its stories, these joint anniversaries are the perfect moment to pause & take a break. I won’t be posting new content monthly, but AfterLife will remain online… hopefully forever! It’s too valuable as an English-language resource to remove from the internet.

I will continue to update the Recoleta Cemetery map & guide as often as necessary; the PDF will always remain current. And if an important event happens, of course I’ll cover it here. I may even write a few new entries from time to time. But other projects require my attention at the moment, so AfterLife will remain on hold until further notice.

I’ve had lots of fun showing thousands of people around one of the most beautiful & intriguing cemeteries in the world —full of so much more than invented ghost stories or questionable interpretations of symbolism. And appearing on the GlobeTrekker television program was a definite highlight of this whole crazy project.

Support from families with mausoleums in Recoleta Cemetery has been for the most part positive & very much appreciated. I’d also like to thank Marcelo Metayer for his invaluable assistance with writing, photography & overall support. Couldn’t have done this mega-project without you, Mar! Finally, a big thank-you to all the loyal readers over the years + everyone who has purchased our map & guide. ¡Gracias a todos!

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586. entrance fee established

Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, entrance fee, sign
Photo posted by Mariano Fraga on Twitter.

In 2015, we wrote about a possible entrance fee being established for Recoleta Cemetery. The idea was shelved, then COVID hit in 2020 & the cemetery closed to tourists for almost two years. But as of April 4th —with very little advance notice— the Buenos Aires city government will charge foreigners 1400 pesos (at this time almost 13 USD) to visit what is still declared by Law 4977 as a public space.

A Clarín article from 30 Mar 2022 by Karina Niebla states that income generated will be used for maintaining all cemeteries in Buenos Aires (for example: renovating the pantheon in Flores, restoring niches in Chacarita & reinforcing security in Recoleta). Let’s hope so. Still, we can’t help but wonder why is the entrance fee so expensive or why a public space is being privatized.

Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, entrance fee

Another problem the city government failed to address is that tour operators that have already sold packages including a cemetery visit must absorb this extra cost until the fee can be incorporated into future services. This argument halted implementation of an entrance fee in 2015 & still remains valid. With no grace period or temporary exemption, tour companies must take yet another cut in income after two years of almost no clients at all. We’ll have to wait & see how the situation unfolds.

Residents of Argentina can enter for free, except if they visit on a guided tour… then they must pay 700 pesos (currently a bit over 6 USD). Guides are exempt from the entrance fee, but at some point all cemetery guides will have to participate in a training course given at the cemetery. We’re all for that!

The online ticketing system seems straightforward enough, but authorities have cut two hours from visiting time. Recoleta Cemetery opens at 07:00, but visitors cannot enter until 09:00. Sneaky & a shame since those early hours have incredible light from the sunrise. Clicking through various screens generates an electronic ticket as shown below:

Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, entrance fee
Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, entrance fee
Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, entrance fee

Tickets are only available online. Our Recoleta Cemetery PDF guidebook will be updated soon with this new information & links to pre-purchase tickets.


Update (01 Oct 2023): As of today, the official price of a ticket to Recoleta Cemetery has “increased” to 3768 pesos from its original value listed above. While the amount in local currency has gone up, in terms of USD the price has actually decreased since tickets were first established due to Argentina’s rampant inflation. With the current official exchange rate at 365,50 pesos per USD, the ticket price now sits at $10.31. Expect this value to continue to vary until inflation is brought under control… probably not any time in the foreseeable future.


Update (Jan 2024): That last price increase did not last long! But the newest price hike to 5090 pesos isn’t surprising given recent elections & even more inflation. With the current official exchange rate at 819 pesos per USD, the ticket price is now about $6.20. We’ll try to stay on top of this rollercoaster.

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572. credit & copyright

copyright image

Two cases of copyright infringement related to the content of this blog & its corresponding PDF guide to Recoleta Cemetery have recently come to our attention. Although we have initiated claims & contacted both parties who used our material without permission, we doubt a resolution will be ruled in our favor. At least as owners of this blog & all the material herein, we can leave record of these cases… & hope we’ll never have to add to this list!


Case #1

YouTube, title

I rarely watch YouTube videos about Recoleta Cemetery, but a few months ago a random recommendation seemed interesting: a 26-minute video in English with excellent photography. While watching, I thought: wow, this guy has done his research. Then the voice-over commentary began to sound all too familiar. Ah yes, channel owner David Owens purchased the PDF guide in November 2017. My guide was not the only source material used, but in many places Dr. Owens quoted the guide’s text directly without any change. Also, the general organization of his video closely follows that of the PDF.

After reporting this video to YouTube, they asked for additional specifics. I rewatched the video to take note of exact usage & could only make it through 18 minutes. It’s disheartening to see your own hard work & decades of investigation claimed by someone else. I sent the list below to YouTube to establish a claim, complete with phrases used, minute marks & corresponding pages of the PDF:

  1. “branch of Franciscan monks” 01:36 (page 07)
  2. “grassy plots with simple tombstones… a number of early modest tombs” 02:38 (page 09)
  3. Exact statistics (55000 square kilometres, 4700 tombs, 350000 departed) 03:48 (page 07) – no one ever agrees on these numbers & the tomb count comes from my own investigation
  4. “1946 tombstone” + “fading relief of her father” 6:00 (page 18)
  5. “crucifix placed above a small altar with recently deceased in caskets beneath” 07:25 (page 10)
  6. “metal grate in the floor” 09:07 (page 10)
  7. “network of lookout stations connected by telegraph to major forts in what was indigenous territory” 11:53 (page 24)
  8. “battles against Brazil… forged from a cannon from one of his ships” 12:58 (page 53)
  9. “actually buried in the church beside the cemetery” 13:54 (page 52)
  10. “founded War College in 1900” 15:14 (page 42)
  11. “made life better in Buenos Aires by improving city sanitation” 16:55 (page 20)
  12. “to help establish US teaching” 17:05 (page 29)
  13. “record of 32 wins out of 38 title matches” 17:43 (page 29)

These direct quotes demonstrate that Dr. Owens did not use my guide as a resource but rather lifted whatever text he needed to produce the video. In several other instances, my text had been slightly reworded yet I recognized it as mine.

What shocked me most was no mention of this blog nor the PDF guide. No credit where credit is due… as if Dr. Owens became an expert on this particular cemetery overnight.

YouTube, comments

Update (Aug 2021): No one informed me directly, so I’ve just seen that the YouTube claim has been resolved… in my favor! The video has been removed. Nice to see the system working:

YouTube, claim

Update #2 (Aug 2021): By coincidence I noticed that Dr. Owens had tried to contact me & his email went to my spam folder. After our conversation, he suggested linking to the PDF guidebook in the video description. I thought his recommendation might promote sales, so I dropped the claim & the video is once again on YouTube.


Case #2

Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires)

In 2011, Sergio López Martínez asked if I would participate in a massive national project to catalog Argentina’s architectural heritage. Of course I agreed. His particular interest was in a set of photographs on a separate blog which I’d taken of the interior of the Confitería del Molino. At the time, the building had been closed to the general public & was in real danger of disintegrating into rubble. But for one week in 2004, the city government commandeered the former café & pastry shop to allow visitors inside. I sent him the photos I had, & they appeared in the series… along with a thank you credit + an invite to the formal release of the first book:

Patrimonio Arquitectónico Argentino, agradecimientos

If I hadn’t been planning a move to Esquel, I would have used those connections to participate in more projects. But I left for Patagonia & couldn’t even get a hard copy of the volume with my photos. Years have passed —now I’m living in Spain— but find online the two-part book series pictured above: Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires). An update of a previous publication, Sergio wrote the section for Recoleta Cemetery as well as took most of the photos. On further examination, two photos looked very familiar… but he takes full credit:

Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires)
Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires)
Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires)

Photographs for Domingo Matheu & former President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento both appear in their original posts on this blog. Given the fact that Sergio & I had collaborated previously, copying images posted here to use in an official government publication is disgraceful. As I wrote the Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación on Twitter: all they had to do was ask.

Monumentos Históricos Nacionales de la República Argentina (Ciudad de Buenos Aires), stolen images

In both cases, disregard for research & investigation is evident. Just so everyone knows, I’ve received payment for my photography as well as for published articles. But I have also allowed my images & text to be used for free on request… depending on who asks & for what purpose.

AfterLife has been online since 2007 & takes no small effort to maintain. PDF sales fund this website as the most complete online resource about Recoleta Cemetery. Period. When using information or images from an independent webpage, please consider all the work involved by the author: ask for permission, offer compensation or give credit. Thanks!

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563. recoleta reopens, almost

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, announcement, reopening

As of today, Recoleta Cemetery —as well as the other two burial grounds in Buenos Aires— will reopen… but only for their intended purpose: funerals or visiting deceased relatives. The above announcement lists the following conditions:

  • Hours are Monday to Friday (including holidays) from 08:00 to 17:00.
  • Only two people per family will be allowed to enter.
  • Length of stay: 1 hour maximum.
  • Tourism or recreational visits are not allowed.
  • For burials, five people + a religious minister are able to enter together.

Basically if you don’t have business inside Recoleta Cemetery, there’s still no option to enter. Staff confirmed that regular cleaning & maintenance has taken place since closure on 13 Mar 2020, but workers have been the only ones permitted inside. While it remains unclear how these new regulations will be enforced, please refrain from tourism until further notice. Gracias!

Update (Dec 2021): Recoleta Cemetery is now open for all visitors & with regular hours of operation!

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