Posted on Monday, 05.11.09
CUBA | COLON CEMETERY
Havana’s famed Colón Cemetery suffers ravages of time
El Nuevo Herald Staff
HAVANA — All but uncared for four decades since Fidel Castro came to
power, the 137-year-old Cristóbal Colón Cemetery of Havana is facing one
of the most difficult challenges in its history: the indignity of old age.
Through much hardship, the burial ground has managed to continue
operating with more than 50 burials a day, though it is badly in need of
repair.
Since 2007, cremations have been carried out in the Guanabacoa
municipality, just outside the capital for about 350 Cuban pesos, or $84.
On this May morning, a refreshing breeze blows through the Cuban
capital, lifting the oppressive heat of the day and offering refreshment
for a stroll through Colón, one of the three largest cemeteries in the
world and among Cuba’s most visited sites.
Foreign travelers pay the equivalent of $6 to visit the cemetery. They
must find their own way through the Romanesque streets and avenues that
crisscross the grounds.
It can be a haphazard experience because the caretakers recently ran out
of guidebooks and other printed materials.
”As time passes, we lose more money. It is a shameful situation,
because we have requested [more pamphlets] for some time and nothing has
arrived,” said one of the caretakers, who asked not to be identified.
Cemetery administrators could be reaping considerable revenue. It is
estimated that 1.5 million people visit the 138-acre grounds every year.
Built in 1871 under the direction of Spanish architect Calixto de Loira,
the graveyard features a main gate that displays an image of Our Lady of
Mercy. The portal, with its three Byzantine arches, has been under
renovation for the past several months.
An octagonal chapel, the only one of its kind in Havana, is also being
restored, albeit slowly. Funeral services continue in the chapel, though
for shorter periods than normal because of the ongoing reconstruction.
And there are graves that always draw throngs. Many illustrious figures
in the country’s political history and culture lie at rest in the vast
graveyard.
One special tomb is the crypt holding the remains of Amelia Goyre de la
Hoz, who was eight months’ pregnant when she died in 1901 at age 24.
She is known as La Milagrosa, or ”The Miraculous One,” because
according to local lore, when she was buried her child was placed at her
feet.
Years later, her body was exhumed, and legend has it that the child was
found nestled in her arms.
The faithful believe that La Milagrosa looks after them and answers
prayers. At her tomb, always adorned with flowers, visitors seeking La
Milagrosa’s aid perform a ritual by touching the tomb three times,
walking around it, while never turning their back to the crypt after
making a solemn request.
”There are no miracles without a little faith,” said Don Agustin, who
ekes out a living at Colón charging families for the maintenance and
repair of tombs.
Agustin, in his early 70s and without a family, has no plans to retire.
Though there is enough work to stay busy, many of those buried at Colón
in the 19th and 20th centuries no longer have living relatives, or if
they do, they are abroad in exile. In a far corner of the cemetery is
the grave of William Morgan, the famous Yanqui Comandate, who helped
Castro win the revolution in 1959.
The burly Ohioan who led his own column during the fighting was executed
three years later when he began opposing the regime’s alliance with the
Soviet Union.
But for Agustin, Havana’s famous realm of the dead is more than a means
to earn a few pesos. It offers freedom.
”This is the perfect place to breathe freely and speak with your
deceased,” he said. “Because when you leave the cemetery, out there,
it is another world.”
Havana’s famed Colón Cemetery suffers ravages of time – Cuba -
MiamiHerald.com (11 May 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1042093.html
