I’m not sure what it says about Buenos Aires that one of it’s biggest tourist attractions is a cemetery. I can’t really think of anywhere else, even London with it’s gorgeous Victorian graveyards, where tourists flock to a cemetery in such high numbers.
Of course, I can’t really think of any cemeteries quite like Recoleta:
The place well lives up to it’s reputation as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Each tomb is a unique work of art, an individual memorial to a person or family. Not all of them are quite as fancy as the one above (my personal favorite), but they run the full gamut from sedate and stately to flashy and elaborate. Some are in pristine condition and some are pretty dilapidated:
Of course the biggest celebrity in Recoleta is Eva Peron. Tourists flock to her tomb, despite the fact that it definitely falls under the more boring design category:
Honestly though, there’s so much more to see in La Recoleta than Evita’s little plaque. A couple hours wandering the blocks of tombs leads to all sorts of details and discoveries:
