A list of occupants inside Recoleta Cemetery reads like a Who’s Who of Argentine history & society. The elite, an aspiring middle class, friends, enemies & those who contributed to the general welfare of Argentina all share space in a miniature city of mausoleums & monuments.
During this self-guided visit, you’ll stroll past Presidents & politicians (some naughty, some nice), Nobel Prize winners, literary greats, entertainers, scientists, military leaders, sports figures & even some who died tragically. The cemetery’s most famous resident, Eva María Duarte de Perón —simply Evita to her devotées— had a bizarre post-mortem journey (described in detail) before finally resting in peace in Recoleta.
Want to learn more? Check out our highly recommended map & pdf guide on the Endless Mile website. The authors of this blog are proud to have guided more than 2,500 people through Recoleta Cemetery… join in!
One of the most precious gifts that Recoleta Cemetery can give to any visitor is inspiration. Many visitors go without any expectations but then something speaks to them… perhaps a tale about one of its residents, the sunlight & shadows, or maybe the beautiful works of art on display. Mark wanted to share his experience with us & our readers:
My name is Mark and for the past few years I’ve been writing and performing songs under the alias M Alexander. I’m 32 and from Belfast, Ireland and my songs tend to be in the genre of piano-based rock and folk.
Anyway, earlier this year I visited La Recoleta cemetery for the first time. As I’m sure you will appreciate, I was absolutely ENTHRALLED by the place. We planned to go for half an hour and stayed for nearly 3!!
Simply put, I’ve never been anywhere like it. I’ve always had an affinity for graveyards, but this was next level- and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. As a result of the visit, we made a point of visiting other South American graveyards on our trip including another beautiful site in Punta Arenas, but La Recoleta definitely has a unique vibe and feel.
As a result of Mark’s visit, he felt the need to write a song about Recoleta Cemetery! You can imagine our thrill when we heard the stories of Juan Alleno, Tiburcia (wife of Salvador María del Carril) & of course the ever-popular Rufina Cambacérès referenced in the lyrics. Marcelo & I absolutely loved it! Released in October 2025, listen to a teaser below:
For the full version, head over to Mark’s artist page on Spotify. And keep in mind that wherever you travel, inspiration can come from the most unsuspecting place.
Unfortunately not available in a larger size, this image from a Peuser photobook published in 1921 shows abundant landscaping —and few people!— in the area just outside the main entrance gate.
Thanks to J. Simón Tagtachian for posting this in his blog Ciencia y Fe.
No one is safe from AI these days… not even visitors to Recoleta Cemetery. When Marcelo & I began this blog in 2007, we could have never imagined writing about false content generated by artificial un-intelligence. Yet here we are.
The text repeats its own descriptions without any real content. Honestly, we try to preserve all news & information written about Recoleta Cemetery on this website for posterity’s sake but not in this case. Can’t do it. You’ll have to click on the link above to find the article.
If anyone is interested in how the Día del Difuntos (All Saints’ Day) has been truly celebrated in the past, take a look at this post: el arte en el cementerio:
Hopefully AI won’t try to bring the dead of Recoleta back to life!
Published in 1917, Illustrated Descriptive Argentina might be perhaps the most literal book title ever conceived. But as explained in the foreward, Henry Stephens considers this the best way to describe Argentina:
An oracular or written description gives a person one impression; illustrations give a different one; but neither alone can convey to the mind a true idea of a place or an object such as can be imbued by the individual who read and studies a descriptive illustration. It is with this idea, therefore, that I have compiled these illustrations, and from a few words to a few paragraphs on each subject have produced “Illustrated Descriptive Argentina,” which I think is the only work of its kind.
Of course Dr. Stephens couldn’t omit Recoleta Cemetery, so let’s get his opinion:
While basic, his description is more or less accurate. But Dr. Stephens should have had access to our guidebook that advises never, ever to visit during midday… as for the “gruesome” quality of the cemetery, nothing could be further from the truth. Looks absolutely peaceful:
But he does appreciate the quality of art inside:
AYERZA MONUMENT, RECOLETA. This is undoubtedly one of the finest works of art in the Recoleta.
JOSÉ SEMINO VAULT, RECOLETA This is one of the better class vaults of the Recoleta.
DORREGO ORTIZ BASUALDO TOMB, RECOLETA The Basualdo family is one of the wealthiest of Buenos Aires. The final resting place of this member of the family is the acme of art and originality.
Apparently Dr. Stephens thought each mausoleum had been constructed for a single person instead of for use for the entire family in perpetuity. Still, his contribution is incredibly valuable to give us a snapshot of what Recoleta Cemetery looked like in the early 1900s… long before the city government charged an entrance fee or before celebrities crawled over crypts. He took the majority of photographs himself & gives credit when they’ve been outsourced.
Marcelo found a scanned PDF copy of this book on the Internet Archive. Please consider donating to them in order to ensure worldwide access to their enormous digital vault of information.
