Alto de São João Cemetery ( Portuguese: ''Cemitério do Alto de São João'') is the largest cemetery in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, located in the ''

freguesia (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese over ...

'' (civil parish) of

Penha de França Penha de França () is a (civil parish) and typical Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. Located in the historic center of Lisbon, Penha de França is north of São Vicente, Lisbon, São Vicente, east of ...

, in eastern Lisbon (formerly, within the parish of São João). Similar to

Prazeres Cemetery Prazeres Cemetery () is one of the largest cemeteries in Lisbon, Portugal; it is located in the ''freguesia'' (civil parish) of Estrela, in western Lisbon (formerly, within the parish of Prazeres). It is considered to be one of the most beauti ...

, it is the resting place for many prominent figures, from

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

, from

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, from

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, side by side with anonymous citizens who are buried and cremated there. The cemetery is public and receives residents from several ''freguesias'' in the capital. The cemetery is composed of

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

s, temporary and perpetual

grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

and

columbaria A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding Cremation, cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''wikt:columba, columba'' (do ...

. Also noteworthy are the Crypt of

Combatant Combatant is the legal status of a person entitled to directly participate in hostilities during an armed conflict, and may be intentionally targeted by an adverse party for their participation in the armed conflict. Combatants are not afforded i ...

s of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

of the

Tarrafal concentration camp Tarrafal was a concentration camp located in the village of Chão Bom, in the Municipality of Tarrafal, on the island of Santiago in Cape Verde. It was established in 1936, during a reorganization process of the Portuguese Estado Novo priso ...

victims.

History

Alto de São João Cemetery was founded in 1833 after the outbreak of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in the city, along with Prazeres Cemetery. It was originally named ''Cemitério Oriental de Lisboa'' (Eastern Cemetery of Lisbon). The country's first

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

was built here in 1925, but would eventually cease to operate for political and religious reasons in 1936. It only resumed operation in 1985 after pressure from the city's

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

community. There have already been cremated several public figures such as

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese writer. He was the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony Nobel Literature laureate and Álvaro Cunhal">Nobel Prize in Literature">Nobel Literature laureate and Álvaro Cunhal, Anti-fascism">anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

politician and minister in the first four provisional governments after the Carnation Revolution. Famed novelist and diplomat José Maria de Eça de Queirós, Eça de Queiroz was buried at Alto de São João Cemetery prior to his reinterment in his family mausoleum in

Baião Municipality Baião may refer to: *Baião (music) Baião () or "''baiano''"ALVARENGA, Oneyda. Música popular brasileira. Porto Alegre: Globo, 1960. pág. 157 is a Northeastern Brazilian music genre and dance style based on a syncopated duple meter rhythm, b ...

Gallery

File:Capela do Cemitério do Alto de São João 2017-08-26.png, Cemetery church plaza File:Cripta dos Combatentes 2017-08-26.png, Crypt of Combatants of the Great War File:Jazigo dos Viscondes de Valmor 2017-08-26 (cropped).png, Viscount of Valmor mausoleum File:Jazigo da Casa da Carnota 2017-08-26.png, Count of Carnota mausoleum File:Jazigo de Mateo Benito Garcia 2017-08-26.png, Mateo Benito Garcia mausoleum File:Jazigo de Miguel Bombarda e de Cândido dos Reis 2017-08-26.png,

Miguel Bombarda Miguel Augusto Bombarda (6 March 1851 – 3 October 1910) was a Portuguese physician, psychiatrist, and politician. He is perhaps most widely remembered as one of the major conspirators of the 5 October 1910 revolution, although he was shot and ...

and Cândido dos Reis mausoleum File:Jazigo Comendador João Ferreira dos Santos 2017-08-26.png, Commander João Ferreira dos Santos mausoleum File:Jazigo de José Elias Garcia 2017-08-26.png, José Elias Garcia mausoleum

Notable burials or cremations

Adelaide Cabete file:Adelaide Cabete.jpg, Adelaide Cabete Adelaide Cabete (25 January 1867, Elvas – 14 September 1935), was one of the main Portuguese feminists of the 20th century. A staunch Republican, she was an obstetrician, gynecologist, teacher, Freemas ...

(1867–1935), physician, teacher and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist * Adelina Abranches (1866–1945), theater actress *

Adelino da Palma Carlos Adelino da Palma Carlos, GCC, GCIH, GOL (; Faro, 3 March 1905 – Lisbon, 25 October 1992), was a Portuguese lawyer, scholar, politician and a freemason who was the first Prime Minister of Portugal after the 25 April 1974 revolution. Care ...

(1905–1992), 102nd

Prime Minister of Portugal The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...

* Agostinho da Silva (1906–1994), philosopher, essayist and writer *

Alfredo Luís da Costa Alfredo Luís da Costa (24 November 1883 – 1 February 1908) was a Portuguese publicist, editor, journalist, shop assistant and salesman who was part of the Portuguese Carbonária and a Mason, best remembered for being one of the two assassins ...

(1883–1908), perpetrator of the

Lisbon Regicide The Lisbon Regicide or Regicide of 1908 () was the assassination of Carlos I of Portugal, King Carlos I of Portugal and the Algarves and his heir-apparent, Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, by assassins sympathetic to Republicanism, Republic ...

Álvaro Cunhal Álvaro Barreirinhas Cunhal (; 10 November 1913 – 13 June 2005) was a Portuguese communist revolutionary and politician. He was one of the major opponents of the dictatorial regime of the '' Estado Novo''. He served as secretary-general of the P ...

(1913–2005), politician, writer and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

activist *

Alves dos Reis Artur Virgílio Alves Reis (Lisbon, 8 September 1896 – 9 July 1955) was a Portuguese criminal who perpetrated one of the largest frauds in history, against the Bank of Portugal in 1925, often called the Angola e Metrópole affair. Early l ...

(1886–1955), entrepreneur * Ana de Castro Osório (1872–1935), physician, teacher, writer, journalist and feminist activist *

António Botto António Botto (August 17, 1897 – March 16, 1959) was a Portugal, Portuguese aesthete and lyricist poet. Early life António Thomaz Botto was born on August 17, 1897 to Maria Pires Agudo and Francisco Thomaz Botto, in Concavada, Portugal, t ...

(1897–1959), poet *

António Champalimaud António de Sommer Champalimaud (19 March 1918 in Lapa (Lisbon), Lapa, Lisbon – 8 May 2004 in Lapa, Lisbon) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese banker and industrialist. He was the wealthiest man in Portugal, gaining his fortune through insuran ...

(1918–2004), banker and industrialist *

António da Silva Porto António Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto (24 August 1817 – 2 April 1890) was a Portuguese trader and explorer in Angola, in the Portuguese West Africa. Biography Silva Porto was born to a poor family in Porto in continental Portugal; ...

(1850–1893), painter *

António de Almeida Santos António de Almeida Santos (15 February 1926 – 18 January 2016) was a Portuguese lawyer, politician and government minister. Career Born in Seia, Portugal, António de Almeida Santos was a jurist who graduated as a licentiate in Law from t ...

(1926–2016), lawyer, politician and

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

António de Spínola António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (; 11 April 1910 – 13 August 1996) was a Portuguese military officer, author and conservative politician. During the Estado Novo he became one of the most senior military commanders, leading milita ...

(1910–1996), 14th

President of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister ...

* António Granjo (1881–1921), lawyer and politician *

António José de Almeida António José de Almeida (July 27, 1866October 31, 1929) was a Portuguese politician who served as the 6th president of Portugal from 1919 to 1923. António José de Almeida also served as prime minister from 1916 to 1917. He was the only pr ...

(1866–1929), 6th President of Portugal * António Machado Santos (1875–1921), Navy officer and politician * António Maria Lisboa (1928–1953), poet * Artur Jorge (1946-2024), football forward and manager *

Ary dos Santos ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Net ...

(1936–1984), poet * Bana (1932–2013), cape verdean singer * Eduarda Lapa (1895–1976), painter *

Emília das Neves Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

(1820–1883), theater actress *

Ernesto Hintze Ribeiro Ernesto Rodolfo Hintze Ribeiro (Ponta Delgada, Azores, 7 November 1849 – Lisbon, 1 August 1907) was a Portuguese politician, statesman, and nobleman from the Azores, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal three times, during King Carlos I' ...

(1850–1907), 43rd, 45th and 47th Prime Minister of Portugal *

Fernando Chalana Fernando Albino de Sousa Chalana (; 10 February 1959 – 10 August 2022) was a Portuguese football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest talents of his era in Portuguese football, the diminutive left winger's main asset was ...

(1959–2022), football player and manager * Filinto Elísio (1734–1819), poet *

Francisco da Costa Gomes Francisco da Costa Gomes, Order of the Tower and Sword, ComTE Order of Aviz, GOA (; 30 June 1914 – 31 July 2001) was a former Portuguese people, Portuguese military officer and politician who was the 15th President of Portugal from 1974 to 19 ...

(1914–2001), 15th President of Portugal *

Helena Vaz da Silva Helena Vaz da Silva (19392002) was one of the first and most influential cultural journalists in Portugal. She was a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999. Early life Helena Maria da Costa de Sousa de Macedo Gentil was born in ...

(1939–2002), journalist * João Vaz (1859–1931), painter * John Smith Athelstane (1816–1883), writer and diplomat *

Jorge Sampaio Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. Sampaio was a member of the Socialist Party, a party which he ...

(1939–2021), 18th President of Portugal * José Mário Branco (1942–2019), singer, songwriter and composer *

José Pinheiro de Azevedo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

(1917–1983), 104th Prime Minister of Portugal * José Rodrigues (1828–1887), painter * José Rodrigues Miguéis (1901–1980), writer *

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese writer. He was the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony Nobel winning writer * José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage">Nobel Prize">Nobel winning writer * José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (1823–1907), zoologist and politician * Leontina de Cabral Hogan(1886-1943), medium and feminist * Manuel Buíça (1876–1908), perpetrator of the Lisbon Regicide * Manuel Gomes da Costa (1863–1929), 10th President of Portugal * Maria Clara Correia Alves (1869–1948), writer, journalist, teacher and feminist activist * Maria João Abreu (1964–2021), actress * Maria Matos (1886–1952), actress and stage director * Maria Severa (1820–1846),

Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

singer and guitarist * Maria Veleda (1871–1955), journalist, teacher and feminist activist *

(1851–1910), physician, psychiatrist and politician *

Mísia Susana Maria Alfonso de Aguiar (18 June 1955 – 27 July 2024), known mononymously as Mísia, was a Portuguese fado singer. She was a polyglot, singing some of her songs in Spanish, French, Catalan, English, and Japanese. Background Mísia ...

(1955–2024), singer *

Nicolau Breyner João Nicolau de Melo Breyner Moreira Lopes (30 July 1940 – 14 March 2016), known professionally as Nicolau Breyner, was a Portuguese actor, screenwriter, producer, director and television host. He was one of the most well-known figures in Por ...

(1940–2016), actor, stage director and playwright * Palmira Bastos (1875–1967), actress and stage director * Stella Piteira Santos (1917–2009), anti-fascist activist *

Vasco Gonçalves General Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves Order of Aviz, OA (; Lisbon 3 May 1921 – 11 June 2005) was a Portugal, Portuguese army officer in the Engineering Corps who took part in the Carnation Revolution and later served as Prime Minister of Portug ...

(1921–2005), 103rd Prime Minister of Portugal

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cemeteries in Portugal Roman Catholic cemeteries in Portugal Buildings and structures in Lisbon Tourist attractions in Lisbon