The La Plata Cemetery
Sundays are pretty quiet from what I've seen. Shops and restaurants are closed. But I felt like going for a walk, and according to Google, the cemetery was open. As a bonus, it was in a direction I hadn't explored yet. And, remarkably, the cemetery was actually open! It was pretty amazing and I had no trouble killing a couple of hours. I saw a lot of impressive vaults and monuments, several pantheons and a lot of graves. The sheer size of the cemetery is remarkable, stretching more than half a kilometer on it's longest side.
Many of the vaults contain the remains of several people; multiple generations of family members. Others are completely empty. I was surprised to see that many plots and vaults had notices on them that the lease was up. I've just learned that only in North America is a grave plot purchased with no expiry date. Throughout the rest of the world, graves and vaults are reused when the lease expires. I did notice that many vaults were brand new but set next to some that were almost a century old.
The picture at the top of the page is a shot of the exterior wall from inside the cemetery. The wall is quite thick and contains niches like this around the entire perimeter. I also know that behind the plate, in at least some of these niches, are the bones of the deceased, often stashed in a garbage bag. I know because many of the plates had fallen and shattered on the ground, revealing the contents within.
Also around the perimeter wall is a rusty track that rolling ladders are attached to, so that people can attend to the higher niches. The ladders seem ancient, but they do move along the track, though not without a lot of squeaking. (I tested one).
I also went down a couple of levels into one of the pantheons. It felt like a cave down there, dark, cold and dank. And it had rained the night before, which I ...guess explains the huge puddles on the floor?
The cemetery closed at 6, so I worked my way back to the entrance at about a quarter to - I thought a bit of a buffer was a good idea in case I got lost. When I reached the gate, it was locked! I remembered passing a security building earlier, so headed for that, and did find an exit. I made it with two minutes to spare; the security guard waiting to lock up behind me.
I got a lot of photos.
Many of the vaults contain the remains of several people; multiple generations of family members. Others are completely empty. I was surprised to see that many plots and vaults had notices on them that the lease was up. I've just learned that only in North America is a grave plot purchased with no expiry date. Throughout the rest of the world, graves and vaults are reused when the lease expires. I did notice that many vaults were brand new but set next to some that were almost a century old.
The picture at the top of the page is a shot of the exterior wall from inside the cemetery. The wall is quite thick and contains niches like this around the entire perimeter. I also know that behind the plate, in at least some of these niches, are the bones of the deceased, often stashed in a garbage bag. I know because many of the plates had fallen and shattered on the ground, revealing the contents within.
Also around the perimeter wall is a rusty track that rolling ladders are attached to, so that people can attend to the higher niches. The ladders seem ancient, but they do move along the track, though not without a lot of squeaking. (I tested one).
I also went down a couple of levels into one of the pantheons. It felt like a cave down there, dark, cold and dank. And it had rained the night before, which I ...guess explains the huge puddles on the floor?
The cemetery closed at 6, so I worked my way back to the entrance at about a quarter to - I thought a bit of a buffer was a good idea in case I got lost. When I reached the gate, it was locked! I remembered passing a security building earlier, so headed for that, and did find an exit. I made it with two minutes to spare; the security guard waiting to lock up behind me.
I got a lot of photos.
Looks like the family lost the keys more than once
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Two levels below ground, lots of rain water on the floors
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