Antofagasta Cemetery

On Sunday we went for a drive.  We found ourselves cruising along the north rim of the city, imagining what daily life was like for many locals, when we stumbled upon a huge cemetery.  While many people are a little put off or creeped out by cemeteries, I love strolling through them.  They speak such volumes about people - how someone honors and takes care of their dead is quite interesting.  And they can be so peaceful; a place for breathing in the past.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the cemetery we went to, but it was on one of the tallest hills on the northeast of the city, which meant it had an impressive view (see below).  Overall, the cemetery reminded me of one in New Orleans.  All the graves were above ground in cemented walls and crypts.  Some were very old (1900s) and some brand new.  What is so interesting to me about how the Chilean's honor their loved ones is that they keep pictures and sentimental objects by their graves.  I have seen that in the states, but not as much as here.  There are colorful paintings, toys, memorabilia, etc, all over the cemetery.  It feels much more sentimental and perhaps even more celebratory of life than I have witnessed in the US.

Here Steve and Sadie are walking into the main entrance of the cemetery.  You can see in the distance straight ahead a little blue building on a hill (with a yellow walk way leading up to it).  That is the path to the top part of the cemetery (and the blue building is a family's grave plot).

 As you walk down the main aisle of the cemetery you pass tons of smaller aisles of graves.  Some are just walls of various people, and others are family-purchased towers of graves.

Behind Steve here is the entrance of the cemetery.

Some of the graves are behind protective fences, so the family can place the memorabilia by the grave and it's protected. (you can see we bought some flowers from the MANY vendors outside the cemetery [in steve's backpack].  We decided to place them on some people's graves that seemed like they needed some brightening up).

Here is a sad one.  It is a very old wooded what looks like a crib.  It was for a baby.  And, there were many of these strew about. 

 Below is a crypt purchased by a Chinese organization, which I can only assume houses the graves of some of the Chinese Antofagastans. There were a bunch of these huge buildings along the main drag of the cemetery - all sorts of groups - from the workers unions to the police to just really rich families.

Here are the views from the top.  Just spectacular. You can see how huge the cemetery is (the beginning of it is that huge dome-like building).