This final resting place in Ecuador is one of the best cemeteries in South America

The huge city cemetery is located in the city centre of Guayaqil. It is known as the General Cemetery of Guayaquil or the Patrimonial Cemetery. This old cemetery is quite unique. It is not like any other cemetary I have seen before. You will find that it contains more than 700.000 graves. Most of them are placed above the ground, stacked on top of each other. The buildings containing the graves are similar to a block of flats. Inside the graves are stacked above each other. While walking the "streets" , looking at the entrances, it feels like walking in a residential area. The cemetery is the last resting place for 18 former presidents, other political persons, heroes of the fight for independence and other known persons from Guayaguil.

You are in walking distance if you are in the neighborhood of Santa Ana and Las Peñas. I chose to visit Santa Ana in the morning and then went on to the cemetary in the afternoon. After entering through the main gate, we had an open, wide alley in front of us. Two tall concrete buildings on each side and a huge cross at the end. Workers were working with concrete and planting, so it was not possible to get past here. It looked as if part of the cemetary was undergoing renovation. We noticed that several areas were closed.

I am used to seing tombs that are underground, with a stone on top, telling the name of the person. In this cemetery it is the oposite. They are placed in three or four story concrete buildings. Even the entrance looks like the entrance to a block of flats. The door was open. I just took a quick look inside to see how the graves are stacked upon each other. There is also a staircase leading to the next level.

This cemetery, established in 1832, is the oldest cemetery in Guayaquil. It is still operational to this day. We could tell by the work that was undergoing on a new block. The size is approx. 169.00 squares meters, with several entrance gates. The places contains niches, vaults, cinerary niches and mausoleums that houses the remains of the dead. If it hadn't been undergoing reservation, I am sure I could have spend the whole afternoon here!

In South America it is now regarded as one of the best cemeteries. In 2003 it became a National Cultural Heritage, thanks to the richness it provides when it comes to artistic design. You will find the ornaments are influenced by both the Gothic and the Baroque, if you go to the area with the mausoleums.

It was in 1808 that Guayaquil started to construct cemeteries. The one who started the process was Simón Bolívar. In the year 1823 he gave the order that a percentage should be granted per person who entered or left the port. At that time there were a good chance of people dying from smallpox.

After walking up and down the streets between all the blocks, the plan was to go over to the area with the large mausoleums. This was not possible due to the renovation work, so we left the cemetery. Once outside, we walked along the road to the next entrance, but it was closed. Instead, we went up onto the overpass that crosses over the multi-lane road. From here we could see the beautiful family tombs and mausoleums. It is the upper class of past centuries that are found here. As far as I could see, this area houses impressive mausoleums, richly decorated. Many are adorned with marble statues. Seeing the tombs from here gives a pretty good impression, but I would have liked to have been able to walk around between them and really enjoy the decoration. Still, this visit was one of the highlights of Guayaquil.

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