Cementerio de la Almudena

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Main entrance
chapel

The Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena is a cemetery in the eastern part of Madrid in the suburb of Pueblo Nuevo and named after the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin of Almudena .

It includes the central part for Catholics and the civil cemetery for people of different faiths and suicides on the other side of the road to Vicálvaro (today: Avenida de Daroca) as well as the Jewish cemetery.

With more than 120 hectares and more than five million buried people (as of 2007), it is the largest cemetery in Europe, a number that continues to rise as the cemetery continues to operate. On church holidays such as B. On All Saints' Day , up to 300,000 people visit the cemetery. Due to its size, the cemetery is passable and has several bus stops inside and a metro station near the main entrance. The complex is triangular in shape and has two side entrances.

The cemetery was opened on June 15, 1884. The first person buried was a 14 month old baby: Pedro Regalado Olmos y Ania.

history

The first plans for this cemetery emerged in the mid-1860s as the city expanded and it was foreseeable that the seven existing Madrid cemeteries were nearing the end of their capacity. The original plan took up the idea of ​​King Joseph Bonaparte , Napoleon's older brother, from the beginning of the 19th century to create a cemetery in the east and west of Madrid as well, as there are in the north (Cementerio General del Norte; opened in 1809) and south ( Cementerio General del Sur; opened in 1810) already had two cemeteries. In the end, only the cemetery in the east of Madrid was created, which is why this cemetery is also called Cementerio del Este (East Cemetery).

Under pressure from the population, who could no longer stand the stench of the corpses due to the close proximity of the cemetery and houses, the mayor José Abascal y Carredano approved the project for tender in 1876, and the two architects Fernando Arbós y Tremanti (builders of the Panteón de Hombres Ilustres ) and José Urioste y Velada were commissioned to carry it out. Work began in 1877, but the cemetery was opened early due to the cholera epidemic of 1884–1885 and was initially named Cementerio de Epidemias (Epidemic Cemetery). A hill 695 meters high was chosen as the location to ensure good air circulation, from which one also has a good view of the eastern part of Madrid. The original capacity of the cemetery was designed for 62,291 graves. There could be 7000 funerals a year, which was half of the dead in Madrid at that time.

construction

The main entrance gate with portico and the chapel with tower are kept in a modernist style. Immediately behind the entrance gate on the right is El Jardín del Recuerdo (Garden of Remembrance), on whose lawn ashes can be scattered (An irrigation system makes this disappear quickly.) A small name tag can be attached to a marble wall.

On the left is the morgue, which today houses a small exhibition of former hearses .

Capilla del Cementerio de la Almudena (Madrid) 03b.jpg

In the middle is the chapel, on the dome of which the angel Fausto holds a trumpet. According to legend, whoever hears this trumpet will face his own death or that of a loved one.

In 1905 the architect Luis García Nava took over the work, which was not completed until 1925 with the first expansion and the official inauguration. (81,638 graves and the capacity for 17,700 burials per year). In 1955 the cemetery was expanded for the second time and later equipped with the crematorium built by Pedro Domínguez Ayerdi . The first cremations took place from 1973.

Thanks to its enormous capacity, the other seven cemeteries could be closed on September 1, 1884: The cemeteries: Cementerio de San Isidro , Cementerio de San Justo , Cementerio de Santa María and the Cementerio de San Lorenzo y San José can still be visited today Cemeteries Cementerio General del Sur (demolished in 1942), Cementerio General del Norte (disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century) and Cementerio de San Nicolás (demolished in 1912) were abandoned.

Some of the most important monuments are:

  • War memorial for the fallen of the División Azul
    Tomb for the fallen of the Azul division
  • War memorial for the fallen of the Condor Legion
    Tomb for the fallen of the Condor Legion
  • War memorial for the heroes of the Cuban War
  • War Memorial to the Heroes of the Philippines
  • Tomb for the dead in the Novedades Theater (1928 fire disaster)
  • Memorial plaque for the Trece Rosas (13 fusilized women)
    Las Trece Rosas.jpeg

After the end of the civil war from 1939 to 1945, more than 2500 people were fused on the outer wall of the cemetery facing Daroca Street, who are also remembered with grave plaques.

Outer wall with grave tablets

Graves of well-known personalities (selection)

See also

Web links

Commons : Cementerio de la Almudena  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.abc.es/20111101/madrid/abcp-secretos-almudena-20111101.html
  2. ↑ http://viejomadrid.foro-activo.es/t619-semana-de-la-arquitectura-visita-guiada-al-cementerio-de-la-almudena-el-martes-pasado Guided tour of the cemetery
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Photos of the corpses bodies @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.madridoculto.com
  4. ↑ http://www.abc.es/20111101/madrid/abcp-secretos-almudena-20111101.html
  5. ↑ http://madripedia.es/wiki/Cementerio_de_La_Almudena The Almundena cemetery at Madripedia

Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ 31.7 "  N , 3 ° 38 ′ 45.2"  W.