Cementerio General

On my first full day in Santiago, my boyfriend and I went to Cementerio General, one of the largest cemeteries in Latin America. It might seem like an odd place to want to visit, but it was actually fascinating. My boyfriend went there last month (his grandfather is buried there), and he showed me some pictures. It's really nothing like the graveyards you find in England; some of the tombs are like palaces.

The entrance to the cemetery

Some of the most impressive tombs:

These two tombs were both inspired by churches in Santiago (with pictures I took earlier in 2018 for comparison): Iglesia de San Francisco...

...and Basílica de los Sacramentinos. (This is my favourite church in Santiago.)

In the cemetery, you can see the grave of Salvador Allende, the former president of Chile, who died during the military coup of 1973.

There is also a large monument for the people who were murdered during the Pinochet dictatorship.

The cemetery is a huge place (it's estimated that two million people are buried there), and you can spend hours walking around it. There are tombs for people of many different origins, and those origins can be seen reflected in their design. It's a strangely beautiful place, that makes you reflect on the history of Chile. For this reason, parts of it have been designated as a national monument.