The Cristóbal Colón Cemetery is a grand funerary urban complex with a rectangular surface area of 57 hectares. In 1987, it was declared a National Monument of Cuba.
It is designed by Calixto Aureliano de Loira y Cardoso, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Noble Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. In 1870, this prominent Spanish architect won the public competition called by the Cemetery Board in Havana for the construction of the Colon Cemetery.
The cemetery's layout is divided into a large central cross that forms four large areas, known as quarters, which are designated according to the cardinal points: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest. This defines its composition as a grid of streets, blocks, and lots.
The two main central avenues that divide the cemetery's layout are 21 meters wide, one runs from North to South and the other from East to West.
In their route, these avenues intersect perpendicularly, and at this intersection is where the Chapel is located, forming a roundabout in the center of the cemetery. The Chapel of the Colon Cemetery has an octagonal floor plan and is the only one of its kind in Cuba.
The construction works of this impressive cemetery took 16 years. On July 2nd, 1886, it was opened to the public.
Over the years, this institution has undergone different necessary modifications to improve funeral services in a city that has multiplied its population. In 1959, the cemetery was intervened by the Revolution, and in 1967, it was nationalized.
The Colon Cemetery has over 52,000 properties, with 8,000 of them being designated as Heritage Protection Grades I and II.
The main facade, built between 1871 and 1874 in cut stone, is the work of architect Eugenio Rayneri. In 1899, this decorative ensemble received two high reliefs representing the Resurrection of Lazarus and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, both works were created by Cuban sculptor José Vilalta Saavedra.
The sculptural group that crowns the main gate of Colon Cemetery is formed by three marble statues, which symbolize the Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. At the base, there is an inscription in Latin that reads, Janua Sum Pacis, which means "I am the Gate of Peace."
Human remains are left exposed in the cemetery of Bayamo.
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A Cuban woman visits her grandfather's grave at Colon Cemetery and finds many tombs open: "It's sad."
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Cuban animal rights activists march to Colon Cemetery to celebrate Dog Day.
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Sports commentator Yasel Porto returns to Cuba and fulfills his vow to visit the tomb of Juana Bacallao.
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Workers at the Colon Cemetery have to handle the skeletal remains with their bare hands.
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Images of Juana Bacallao's wake revealed: a nearly empty funeral home.
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They discover ditch filled with bones exposed to the elements in Colon Cemetery
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Relatives bid final farewell to Cuban writer Newton Briones Montoto in Havana.
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They ask for help to care for the dogs at the Colon Cemetery.
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Exposed bones and desecrated graves in Artemisa cemetery
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Rescuers who died in Havana collapse are honored with a farewell ceremony.
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A video of the fire where a teenager died in Havana comes to light.
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El Micha visits El Dany's grave with Yomil.
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The family who died in a fire in Havana is laid to rest at Colón Cemetery.
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Reggaeton singer El Gladiador demands justice for deplorable state of cemeteries in Cuba.
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Chomy Miyar, living archive of Fidel Castro, has passed away.
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Cubans report that there are no coffins available at the Colon Cemetery to bury exhumed remains.
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Brigadier Generals Enrique Acevedo and Armando Quiñonez die in Havana.
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Archbishop of Havana officiates Mass for victims of the Saratoga at Colon Cemetery
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Deterioration, bad smells, and a lack of flowers at the Havana cemetery of Colon
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Yomil pays tribute to El Dany 11 months after his death.
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