Cementerio de la Recoleta

Lonely Planet review

One of Buenos Aires' prime tourist attractions, the Cementerio de la Recoleta sits in the plushest of neighborhoods, ritzy Recoleta. High walls surround this necropolis where, in death as in life, generations of Argentina's elite rest in ornate splendor.

It's fascinating to wander around and explore this extensive mini-city of lofty statues, detailed marble facades and earthy-smelling sarcophagi, all the while reading family names of those with enough social points to make it in here. Follow the crowds and you'll find Evita's grave. Among marble angels and black granite tombs are the sites of some of Argentina's most famous - and infamous - historical figures: 19th-century educator and president Domingo Sarmiento, caudillo (strongman) Juan Facundo Quiroga (occupying the cemetery's oldest tomb), politician Carlos de Alvear, Radical party leader Leandro Além, twice president Hipólito Yrigoyen, boxing great Angel Firpo, independence hero William Brown and writer Victoria Ocampos.