Recoleta Cemetery for the Famous

La Recoleta is one of the top attractions in Buenos Aires and is more like a museum than a burial ground. Set on 14 acres (the equivalent of 4 city blocks square), the site contains over 4600 vaults, all above ground but having stairs going down for additional burial plots. These miniature buildings are truly art and 94 have been declared National Historical Monuments. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. 

The exclusive cemetery is the last stop- pardon the pun- for the country’s most celebrated (and controversial) presidents, intellectuals, army generals and entertainers, and a popular attraction for visitors to Buenos Aires. The revered artist, Candido Lopez, who I previously blogged about, is buried here.

So also is Eva Perron, commonly known as Evita to her countrymen, who was the second wife of Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón and the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952.  

She was adored by Argentinians and when she died, two million people filed past her coffin (in comparison, Princess Diana's funeral had one million people lining the streets of London). She is buried in her father's family crypt. She was revered for her personal work and dedication to feeding and educating the poor and for her drive in establishing social assistance to millions. But she was also very disliked by the anti-Peronist movement and the large political party against these efforts.

When there, I heard two different tour guides telling stories about her body being stolen and then embalmed for display elsewhere and her corpse being disfigured. 

 

So I did some fact-checking and offer the following:

Her remains were indeed 'stolen'. When she died, the President had her body embalmed while an elaborate mausoleum was constructed.  But in 1955, when he was ousted from power, her body- with the covert assistance of the Vatican- was taken to Italy and buried in a Milan cemetery under a false name. Then in1971, her body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where it was on display in Peron's home until he died. Her remains were officially finally buried back in Argentina in the Recoleta Cemetery in 1976.