Circular or spherical forms represent something without a beginning or end… a natural process which unites all of us. Flowers, emblematic of beauty with a short life span, reminds us of the beauty a family member or friend shared while alive. Whether real or incoporated into sculpture, wreaths can be found scattered throughout Recoleta Cemetery:
There are even two on the main entrance gate:
Anyone who has walked around Plaza San Martín in Buenos Aires should recognize this last name. Corina Kavanagh sold two family ranches when she was 39 years old to build Latin America’s first skyscraper. Completed in 1936, the Edificio Kavanagh represents a bold end to Art Deco & a new beginning for racionalismo, or Modernism as it is known in the US. 29 floors of reinforced concrete sit alongside the plaza & give the impression of a steamship inching through the urban landscape. Corina set aside the entire 14th floor for herself—the only floor with a single apartment—but for some unknown reason lived elsewhere in the building:
What inspired Corina to fund the construction? A legend exists that Corina fell in love with a son of the Anchorena family whose palatial residence also borders Plaza San Martín. But mom didn’t approve & made sure that her son broke it off with Corina.
Wanting revenge, Corina bought land in front of the Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento (meant to be the family mausoleum for the Anchorenas) & had the Kavanagh built so tall that the family wouldn’t be able to look out their windows to see the church. Sounds good but a little too good to be true. Since the Anchorena mom died in 1920 & the Kavanagh was built in 1936, the story is most likely someone’s invention. Corina passed away in 1984.
Update (Nov 2011): Through some unexpected connections, we were able to get a look at the gorgeous interior of this iconic BA beauty. See inside the kavanagh on our sister site, Endless Mile.
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Teacher of teachers, Ángela Menéndez was responsible for directing the 1898 Escuela Normal de Mujeres #2. 186 women enrolled for the first course & only more would follow. As time went by, increasing importance was granted to the institute & in 1903 Menéndez’s school became the legitimate source for teaching foreign languages.
Her tombstone reads, Fiat Voluntas Tua, or Thy will be done. An important reminder for both education & women’s rights in Argentina:
Believe it or not, the school still exists… just a block from Diagonal Norte. Stop by & pay a visit:
Very little evidence is left from the original 1822 cemetery. As the first public burial spot in Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery wasn’t dignified enough to house the remains of elite families in its early days. They continued to prefer burial in churches. Early cemetery residents were buried haphazardly since space was available, & no one seemed to care much about organization in the beginning.
After the 1881 overhaul by Torcuato de Alvear, the cemetery’s layout was ordered & improved. Many plots were relocated to make room for the neat rows of mausoleums visible today. As far as I know, there are only two exceptions to this rule… they don’t fit on the map.
The tomb of Gabriel Ocampo sits in the middle of an aisle near the entrance, almost blocking access:
Many Irish Catholic immigrants still have their own tombstone from early days tucked in between modern mausoleums. But not Margaret Donoghoe. She was never moved & many people unknowingly walk over her cracked & worn tombstone:
