Category: Operation

Over the lifetime of this blog, we’ve seen a few vaults appear for sale online… but it isn’t common. Availability is low, transfer of titles takes time, & real estate agencies can lack experience dealing with this kind of transaction. However, more vaults than ever before have become available recently.

A perfect example is the Eugenio Mattaldi family vault, placed for sale in 2023 by his great-granddaughter. María Cristina Mattaldi works as a real estate agent, so she has the inside scoop. Her family vault stands alone, occupying the totality of its lot, which increases the value… as does its location: along the back row of the cemetery near many important historical figures like President Manuel Quintana or close to striking sculptures by Troiano Troiani on the Familia Manuel Cerini vault.

The Mattaldi vault sits on 20 square meters with its own beautiful sculpture, another big selling point (above photo). The structure has three levels: a ground floor, a first and second basement, as well as a chapel with stained glass windows and marble stairs. All that space allows storage for 30 coffins. Transfer of the deed would be through prescriptive acquisition or usucaption… basically occupying the spot with permission of the original owners.

This raises an interesting point about land use in Recoleta Cemetery: the lot itself belongs to the city government, but the family has been given permission for perpetual use. For the price of 95,000 USD, María will transfer all rights + the entire structure. Prospective buyers have to figure about 30 USD for monthly maintenance fees as well.

Sidenote: The cyclic nature of the Argentine economy could be one factor in these specific properties appearing on the market. I remember in the aftermath of the December 2001 devaluation, everyone wanted cold, hard cash. The owner of our rental apartment offered it to us for the incredible price of 47,000 USD. When I left Argentina in 2015, it was worth 250,000 USD… too bad I didn’t buy then!

Of course, grand mausoleums like that of Mattaldi are rare opportunities. For the rest of us who might want a chance to socialize in the afterlife with Argentine elite, a recent development has made burial in Recoleta Cemetery more accessible. In September 2024, public auctions for vaults will take place for the first time in 57 years.

Banco Ciudad has a section on their website with all the legalese & starting bid prices. This might become more common as a way to restore historic properties & keep them in good condition… not only for Recoleta, but also for all other cemeteries in Buenos Aires. Concessions are given for 60 to 99 years, depending on the condition of the vault or lot up for auction.

Even real estate websites like Zonaprop have taken to listing vaults… as of the publication of this post, two were available at the average price of 67,000 USD. What are you waiting for??

Information for this post was taken from two articles published on Infobae (here & here) as well as dispositions published on the official website of the Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.

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A rare family document appeared on Facebook, & the owner kindly gave us permission to share it here as well. This boleto de sepultura —roughly translated as a “burial certificate”— has many interesting bits of information, but first a translation:

No. 69

The Municipality of the city of Buenos Aires has sold in perpetuity, under the conditions outlined below, the sixth gravesite, No. 32 of Section 2 in the Northern Cemetery to Mr. Enrique Prack who has paid the Tax Office the sum of seven thousand pesos; this document should be registered by the Administrator of the above-mentioned cemetery.

#1 · No other sale or transfer of this property will be recognized except those with the right of succession.
#2 · Aforementioned transfers may only be granted by the Municipality, via official request and with corresponding information.

[handwritten note] At 15:00, to the right of the second street.

Buenos Aires, 11 January 1884

[followed by illegible signatures… there’s a Belgrano & a Mariano Obarrio.]

Unfortunately the exact size of the plot is not recorded, but the price of 7,000 pesos in 1884 was a small fortune! Of course, determining an equivalent amount in terms of today’s purchasing power is tricky.

According to the Banco Central, the peso had almost the same value as the English sovereign at the time. So the Prack family invested 7,000 pounds for their plot; a considerable sum given that one of the extremely wealthy members of the Anchorena family died in 1884 with a fortune of 7 million pesos. If that’s the top tier of wealth in Argentina at that moment, this purchase represents a sizeable sum of money.

Also of interest is a legal clause stating the plot belongs to the family forever. Well, almost. Given that Catholic cemeteries are considered sacred places, contracts like the above should be considered leases. Even so, the city government made a large profit from the proceeds of plot sales. Remember that a major renovation of the cemetery took place in 1881, & the city likely needed income to cover construction costs.

Enrique Prack (son, I believe) was a lawyer & wrote his thesis on crime & ideas behind penal codes. The mausoleum continues to be maintained by family descendants.

Note: Document image used with kind permission of the Prack family.

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How does a simple burial place transform into a national monument? Oscar Andrés de Masi answers this question by examining the archives & internal debates of the first organization created to watch over Argentina’s complicated legacy.

Preservation & maintenance of historical/cultural heritage became a major concern for many countries at the beginning of the 20^th century. National commissions around the world formed in order to control, recover & spread the word about those places which helped form the unique identity of each country. Argentina established the Comisión Nacional de Museos y Lugares Históricos in 1938 to manage this huge undertaking.

Fully operational by 1940, funerary heritage had yet to become part of the broader definition of national heritage. At first only founding fathers & their families were deemed worthy of such commemoration, but questions soon began to emerge. What if the person’s remains had been moved after burial? Does the empty tomb still constitute national heritage? Who has jurisdiction over those remains: family descendants or the nation?

Eventually the nation claimed all rights, & cenotaphs were also considered patrimony. The definition of who to include grew as well, as later decades added other figures who had left a mark on Argentine society. Early years of the CNMLH also revived the idea of building a National Pantheon (1834 design by Italian architect Carlo Zucchi pictured below), but in the end Recoleta Cemetery took over that function.

The most valuable part of the book contains photographs of 35 tombs —the majority in Recoleta Cemetery— taken by the Hans Mann photo studio in 1944. Commissioned for use in a book to be published by the CNMLH, these pictures came to light in 2010 during a reorganization of the Commission’s photo archive:

Overall book design could be better, but one criticism above all: a list of all declared funeral heritage sites is in alphabetical order… by first name or by title. This methodology makes the list difficult for a reader to use. See the sample page below where titles like canónigo, capitan or coronel come first. Our list for Recoleta Cemetery is organized by year of decree + last name.

Many thanks to Marcelo for finding this book published in 2012 & shipping it twice to Spain!

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