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104. resale

With no further room for expansion, an interesting phenomenon developed in Recoleta Cemetery—the resale of tombs. If a family decides to use another cemetery, they can transfer caskets & personal effects to the new location & sell their mausoleum to someone else. Given high construction costs, new owners typically opt for renovation of the existing tomb & tack on their name instead of building an entirely new structure.

Family vaults which have been resold can be easily identified. Look for name plates which appear pasted over the original owners:

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

Sometimes new tenants don’t bother erasing the previous owners’ name:

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

Other times a new nameplate obviously covers the previous family name:

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

Or a patchwork job erases the past:

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

When a family name doesn’t match either the style or font of the original owner, it’s a dead giveaway:

Resold tomb, Recoleta Cemetery

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