In Havana, the huge Necropolis Cristobal Colon is
one of the largest cemeteries in the Americas. It is crammed with sparkling
white ornate classical marble sculpture in tidy rows as far as the eye can see.
From its beginnings in 1870, many of the tombs' statues were commissioned
in Florence, Italy. The tree-shaded avenues make for a lovely stroll between
the tombs.
A guide will explain the commonly used funerary symbols.
An upside-down torch means a life snuffed
out.
An hourglass with wings means that time on earth has flown by too fast.
A mother pelican with babies gathered around suggests that she knows she is dying, pecks holes in her sides, and offers her own blood to her babies for nourishment.
One of the largest tombs in the cemetery is a tomb honoring firefighters. A heavy black iron chain encircles the monument. Hanging from the chain like charms on a bracelet are pendulous ovals that represent tears (which I mistook for symbols of bombs).
The tomb of Señora Amelia Goyri is the most
frequently visited site. Visitors have left hundreds of plaques and notes to her.
Amelia died in childbirth in 1901. Her heartbroken
husband visited her grave several times each day. Every time he left, he
knocked her stone slab with one of the four iron rings on the vault (to
try to awaken her) and then walked away backwards so he could look at her as
long as possible. Legend has it that after he died, the bodies of Amelia and
her baby were exhumed. It was discovered that Amelia was a virgin and the
baby, who had been buried at her feet, was found in her arms. Amelia is now
known as La Milagrosa (the miraculous one) and she attracts thousands of
visitors annually. Mostly women come to the tomb, touch the baby, pray for their wishes to come true, rap on
the knockers, and then retreat backwards.
Interestingly, there are very few live flowers seen in the expansive cemetery. (Amelia's grave is a notable exception). As part of the government's control of the mosquito populations and
related disease, any flowers placed at a gravesite are removed the same day
before they can rot.
Cemetery workers hand cut the grass. In fact, just about everywhere in Havana where I saw yard work being done, it was done by hand like these guys.