Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón
Vedado District, Havana
Established in 1876.
Interior of la Capilla Central
The cemetery is criss-crossed by a neat grid of streets. In the center is the chapel, Capilla Central
Avenida Cristóbal Colón bisects the plot into east and west halves. Toward the sunrise, are Calles 1 through 17. Toward the sunset are Calles 2 through 18.
The sunrise-sunset (east-west) trending streets are named, from north to south, Calles A through N.
I am relieved, now, to know that the dead won’t be getting lost during their midnight walk abouts.
The cemetery is known for its architecture, sculpture, and history
Graceful sculptures frame a carved door.
Beautiful buildings, wide avenues, even street signs. A worthy neighborhood for the dead.
This magnificent old mausoleum was overgrown by trees, its stairways were crumbling away. The family that loved and honored this memorial are no longer around to maintain what was so lovingly built
The family that loved and honored this memorial are no longer around to maintain what was so lovingly built
Unusual here where the sun beats down so mercilessly, a memorial beautifully sheltered by an arbor.
And here is the most famous and most beloved of all of the memorials in Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón – La Milagrosa.
'La Milagrosa' always has fresh flowers and visitors
Señora Amelia Goyri died in childbirth in May 1901. Her baby was buried at her feet. When the grave was exhumed many years later, the baby was found in her arms.
‘La Milagrosa’ always has fresh flowers and visitors. They come to mourn, and to hope; with reverence, with dreams. They touch her image and her clothing, and the feet of the infant.
They come to mourn, and to hope; with reverence, with dreams.
And they leave gifts
Flowers for the bereaved mother, clothing for the tiny naked baby
Mysterious, haunting. Faces float disembodied.
Ghostly faces
No doubt, the Necropolis de Cristóbal Colón has earned its National Monument desgnation.