Last week we went to the Cementerio Recoleta, where the rich and elite are burried. It was beatiful, with crypts ranging from the incredibly ornate to very minimalist (though with a requisite crucifix on the inside) made of marble, stone and brick.
I can only assume that the tombs of the rich (as opposed to the historically/culturally signigificant) are maintained only as long as the families continue to fund the plot. There were many whoe windows had been broken and seemed to have been abandoned for some time. We were able to peek into these and see some of the internal structure. It´s hard to tell from the pictures, but there is a set of incredibly steep and precarious looking stairs leadingly down to allow cascets to be placed on shelves. I can´t imagine carrying a full cascet down those stairs!
side note... there are something like 60 cats running around, likely disposing of the rats. They roam around in and out of crypts with openings, and right around closing time, someone comes in and lays out some cat food and water throughout the cemetary.
I´m not sure if I prefer that the smell from the open crypts be the stale odor of cat piss, or decay...
