The Christopher Columbus Necropolis is one of the twenty-one necropolises in the Cuban city of Havana and has been declared a National Monument of Cuba. With 57 hectares of extension, it is the most important cemetery in the country. It has a large number of sculptural and architectural works, which is why many specialists place it as the first of world importance, preceded only by that of Staglieno , in Genoa .
The necropolis is one of the most valuable in America on a cultural level due to the richness of its sculptures and architectural forms, despite having been repeatedly vandalized. At the gates of the cemetery there is a Carrara marble monument 34 meters long and 21 meters high. The theological virtues of charity, faith and hope are represented.
The cemetery dates from 1854, at which time Governor Marqués de la Pezuela planned the construction of a new necropolis in Havana when the old Espada cemetery was insufficient and inoperative, an idea that could not be carried out at that time.
Its construction was authorized by Royal Decree on July 28, 1866 and on October 30, 1871 construction began. The works were completed almost fifteen years later, on July 2, 1886.
Its entrance is characterized by a sculptural monument on its top, made of Carrara marble , 34 m long by 21.66 m high. The set represents the theological virtues : faith , hope and charity . This cover is the work of the Spanish architect Calixto de Loira . The Carrara marble reliefs and sculptures are by Cuban José Vilalta de Saavedra.
When crossing the gigantic neo-Byzantine style doorway , two wide avenues, called from north to south Cristóbal Colón and Obispo de Espada and from east to west Fray Jacinto, serve as the main marker for the division of the cemetery into four areas, originally called barracks . Its structure is rectangular in the shape of a Roman camp and is made up of a grid of streets, blocks and lots.
At the Cristóbal Colón Necropolis, numerous pantheons are scale recreation of the colonial mansions of their original owners in other times. The arches, the domes, and the characteristic stained glass windows of its magnificent architecture decorate the funerary constructions artistically.
These works constitute one of the most notable characteristics of the cemetery, executed in the varied architectural styles and materials, according to the date of construction and the economic position of the deceased, since next to the mausoleums erected by the magnates in the republic, the most modest families were laying their graves.
A true architectural monument of antiquity, the necropolis also has the honor of being the only American cemetery dedicated to Christopher Columbus , great navigator and discoverer of the Island and other important destinations on the American continent.
The sumptuous place seems to us a great quarry sculpted under the open sky, such is the profusion of Carrara marble, granite and slates that appear everywhere as we pass and in all directions.
Monument in the pantheon of firefighters.
Hundreds of sites of these conditions are located distributed among the different paddocks of the cemetery, many of them dedicated not only to individual personalities, but to charities or important institutions, such as the pantheon of the Armed Forces.
If the constructions are impressive, their statues are no less formidable, such as the sculptural ensemble dedicated to a group of firefighters who died tragically in 1890 while on duty. This funerary work of about ten meters high, the work of the Spanish sculptor Agustín Querol , represents the deceased firefighters with their real faces. As a significant element, not a single photo or vestige of one of them could be found on which to draw inspiration, but in order not to condemn his memory to anonymity, the sculptor himself, in a gesture very much in keeping with the romanticism of the time, lent him their own appearance. And thus increase the effect of the heroic act of the firefighters.
Unrepeatable symbols attract visitors to the cemetery, characterized by the constant presence of inverted torches that recall the end of human existence, accompanied by laurel branches and winged hourglasses, which mark with the descent of their grains the irreversibility of earthly life.
The most visited tomb is that of Amelia Goire de la Hoz , a lady of high society, who is now known as "La Milagrosa".
In a vast area where the green of the vegetation contrasts with the cold white of the marble, the memories last in eternity and surround those who venture to know that part of the history of Havana, told in the silence of its dead.
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