This week, we continue exploring Buenos Aires with three postcards and a few photos. The first postcard, above, shows an aerial view of the upscale Recoleta neighborhood. One of the main attractions of the area is the huge and very historic cemetery, covering 14 acres and containing nearly 5000 tombs. These include mausoleums of notable people, including literary figures, Argentinian presidents and other political and military figures, businessmen, and at least one professional boxer (Luis Ángel Firpo).

The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Doric columns. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Neo-Gothic, and most materials used between 1880 and 1930 in the construction of tombs were imported from Paris and Milan. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. These mausoleums are still being used by rich families in Argentina that have their own vault and keep their deceased there — from Wikipedia

Enrique Mosconi (d. 1940) was a pioneer of petroleum exploration in Argentina

Tomb of former First Lady Eva Perón

Cemetery cats

La Boca is famous as one of Buenos Aires’ most vibrant neighborhoods. In the above postcard, you can see the colorful Benito Quinquela Martín Museum on the right. Also, it’s a bit difficult to spot, but a small cobblestone plaza known as the Vuelta de Rocha is located near the center of the photo, along the waterfront (a yellow box truck is parked near the base of the mast-like pole). This historic spot is where the Irish-born Admiral Guillermo Brown began forming Argentina’s first navy in the early 1800s.

Next week, I’ll have more images of colorful La Boca and the street museum, Caminito — before we leave the city and head out to Isla de los Pajaros. You won’t want to miss that!