The Cementerio N° 1 de Valparaíso is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located in the Panteón Hill, immediately north of the Cementerio de Disidentes, in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Created in 1825, it was declared as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

of Chile in 2005, within the category of Historic Monuments.

History

Before the creation of the cemetery, the people were buried, according to the colonial-era traditions, in mass graves located next to churches and convents. The poorest people were buried on unpopulated ravines. The founding of public cemeteries in Chile began under the government of

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

, who created the

Cementerio General de Santiago The Santiago General Cemetery () in Santiago, Chile, is one of the largest cemeteries in Latin America with an estimated two million burials. The cemetery was established in 1821 after Chile's independence when Bernardo O'Higgins inaugurated the ...

. On December 3, 1821, a project was presented to create a cemetery in Valparaíso on a small hill in the outskirts of the city, which was later named Cerro Panteón. The project was supported by governor

José Ignacio Zenteno José Ignacio Zenteno del Pozo y Silva (July 28, 1786 – July 16, 1847), was a Chilean soldier, politician and hero of the Chilean War of Independence. Zenteno was born in Santiago, the son of Antonio Zenteno y Bustamante and of Victoria del ...

. Historical documents show that the cemetery was operating in 1825, and that it was exclusively a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cemetery until 1883. In April, 1885 a storm caused a landslide that dragged several coffins into the houses located on the slopes of the hill, killing some residents. The

1906 Valparaíso earthquake The 1906 Valparaíso earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, on August 16 at 19:55 local time. Its epicenter was offshore from the Valparaíso Region, and its magnitude was estimated at 8.2 . This earthquake occurred thirty minutes after the 1906 ...

destroyed the

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of the cemetery, which was built in 1835, the entrance's clock tower and the

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 ...

that contained the heart of

Diego Portales Diego José Pedro Víctor Portales y Palazuelos (; June 16, 1793 – June 6, 1837) was a Chilean statesman and entrepreneur. As a minister of president José Joaquín Prieto's government, he played a pivotal role in shaping the state and po ...

. In 1922 a portico entrance was built by Swiss architect Augusto Geiger, and was installed a replica of the ''

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

'' donated by Juan Brown, which was brought from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Description

Located on a terrace of the cerro Panteón, the cemetery features a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

entrance, which is located directly across the street from the entrance to the Cementerio de Disidentes. This Greek temple-like gate was built in the

Neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most promin ...

with fluted Doric columns. The portico contains a replica of the ''

'' by

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

. A balconied

viewpoint Viewpoint may refer to: * Scenic viewpoint, a high place where people can gather to view scenery In computing * Viewpoint model, a computer science technique for making complex systems more comprehensible to human engineers * Viewpoint Corpora ...

, which is adjacent to the mausoleum of Pascual Baburizza, is reached after traversing a network of pathways surrounded by mausoleums, graves and epitaphs. The tombs are built in various architectural styles including

Neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

and Neo-classical. Numerous

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

artworks can be found here.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cementerio No 1 de Valparaíso Buildings and structures in Valparaíso Cemeteries in Chile