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I am glad El Calvario Church provides a nice transition from the white cemetery series back to the rich antigüeño color palette while maintaining the death theme going on. El Calvario or Calvary (Golgotha) is the name of the mount on the outskirts of Jerusalem where it’s believe Jesus Christ was crucified. This church with its three arches provides a symbolic representation of the crucifixion; with each arch representing each cross.

As I have explained before, the natural lime-stone based paints have a transparent shine, similar to pearls, which reflect some incredible colors as the different temperature of light is bounced back from the walls. This effect was very obvious the day I took these shots. In less than five minutes, the time I was there, the yellow wall went from a pale yellow to a gorgeous orange-yellow as the clouds moved in and out to let the late afternoon sunshine hit the wall. I wish you were here to witness such a spectacular color show.

It is so peaceful to walk on the tree-lined cobblestone street with benches on the side in your way in or out of the San Lázaro Cemetery. I guess a visit to this cemetery could be a much needed break from the ‘hectic’ strolls around La Antigua Guatemala.

I want to thank Sompopo, Patsy Poor and MarieMc for suggesting a visit to the cemetery. It is time to wave goodbye to our dead and continue to document the lives of the living.

It must be nice to know your resting place it’s taken care of by a family mausoleum. In the picture above you get a close-up view of the Solorzano Najera family mausoleum. Who are they? Who knows; a random pick by the viewfinder on the way out of the cemetery.

There is a broken bell in the San Lázaro Church, which is located inside the premises of the San Lázaro Cemetery. The broken bell serves as testament of the many earthquakes this land has experienced and its resilient will to continue to toll for the dead.

Does anyone care to translate the sign below the broken bell?

One aspect I forgot to mention was that there is full-size church inside the San Lazaro Cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala which I believe goes by the same name. There are some niches in the church façade, just like in many churches around Antigua Guatemala.

A few more photos and we will wave goodbye to the cemetery series. I hope you have enjoyed the the bird’s eye overview of the San Lázaro Cemetery.

This niche and the surrounding walls was basically the only color I found at the San Lázaro Cemetery. This piece was between two sets of above-ground crypts; the set on the right was empty and the set on the left was not vacant.

Perhaps it is not too late to introduce some of the wonderful Antigüeño color palette into the La Antigua Guatemala’s main public cemetery.

The cross is another element that repeats itself often in the cemetery. Actually, the cross is an element omnipresent throughout La Antigua Guatemala.

Mausoleums are bought for an entire family most of the time. Each family member has a designated niche as his resting place. The different vaults are marked with a plaque or tombstone.

Asking around about the white color of the cemetery and the why most crypts are above ground, nobody has a definite answer.

JM Magaña, La Antigua Guatemala’s second conservator and the pen behind the architecture column in Recrearte Magazine, pointed out that until 1976 La Antigua Guatemala was painted all white too. At the time the cemetery was created in the 1800s, there were a couple waves of plagues and thus every thing was white-washed with live limestone to disinfect and maintain the town virus free. This coincided with the introduction of coffee in 1875 (more or less) and thus an abundance of wealth which provided the necessary fund to build all those mausoleums. There was a massive earthquake that hit Guatemala in 1976 and destroyed a great deal of buildings and houses in Guatemala. In fact, it is said that the 1976 earthquake changed forever the look and feel of Guatemala. La Antigua Guatemala was not saved and thus reconstruction began after the quake and with it, the color lime-stone paint came. This change in color did not reach the cemetery.

So far this is the best I can do.

Volcán de Fuego Eruption side note: Fire Volcano erupted into a gorgeous nature show of light and lava three days ago. I hadn’t said anything because I did not know since I’ve been in bed sick with the flu for the past week. Nonetheless, if you follow this link to MyBootsnMe, you can see photos and description of this awesome show that nature gave us. I even got some photos from one of the readers of LAGDP. Is it safe to come to La Antigua Guatemala? You bet. Volcán de Fuego is still far enough from La Antigua Guatemala.

When I decided to enter the cemetery of San Lázaro I was expecting a very chaotic cemetery full of the antigüeño color palette with many crypts and above grounds burial chambers and perhaps some mausoleums. Surprise, surprise! The only color was provided by the many flower arrangements, there were mostly mausoleums, some nichos (above grounds crypts) and just a few crypts.

Because there are so many mausoleums, the style varies a lot. I will show just a few samples to get the idea. Today’s picture shows a mausoleum with many column as its façade and with its white stucco it could probably pass as an original Greek mausoleum. This is a tribute from La Antigua Guatemala’s City Hall to the Teachers’ Union of La Antigua Guatemala.

The only underground crypts that I saw in the San Lázaro Cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala are in this green lot, located all the way in the rear of the cemetery. These crypts are in the west end of the cemetery and thus protected, somehow, from floods by the many mausoleums in the front of the cemetery. Wealth could also be factor. This lot represents a very small percentage of the size of the cemetery, so I believe, this section is allocated for the very poor. Once again, the white color is present in las tumbas (tombs) and it is very rare for a Latin American cemetery to only be painted in white. The mystery continues…

As explained by Sompopo, the Spanish term nicho (niche) translates into English as above ground crypts. Criptas (crypts) are reserved in Spanish for underground burial places or vaults. Above ground vaults are nichos (I think, don’t trust me on this one since I am no expert). Nichos are normally bought by people who can afford them, but are not wealthy or belong to a wealthy family otherwise they would have a mausoleum. The people who can not afford a nicho bury their dead in a normal crypt (underground).

Sompopo and Ale pointed out a couple things about the recent photos: (1) Are all the crypts above ground and (2) why are all the mausoleums white wash? Without any research just yet, I began thinking about the reasons while taking into accounts what Sompopo said about New Orleans cemetery and the water table. I reasoned that since the San Lázaro cemetery is the west end part of La Antigua Guatemala and since the city has a slight inclination that goes from east to west and the river and rainfall flows west, just maybe, the cemetery became inundated; thus most of the burial chambers are above ground, including the nichos. The white color of all the above ground crypts and mausoleums, I don’t know yet, but it may be related. I promise I will have an answer for you before the cemetery series is over.

Guatemala’s real culture is syncretism and thus death plays an important role in traditions and culture. Guatemala is the real ‘melting pot’ and the final product is called mestizo. A mestizo is an individual that comes in many shades of brown and she is made up from a combination of AmerIndian, European, African, Asian and Arab. Syncretism and mestizism go together well and that is why there is no conflict with including some or many Mayan rituals, including death rituals, in a everyday Catholic or Christian service. Obviously, a single entry is not enough to describe such a complex human being, but we have to start somewhere and since Patsy Poor mentioned that recent studies showed that the U.S. will be brown (mestizo) in 50 years.

The mausoleums shown thus far, which to me seem very stately and for the wealthy, are not by any means the biggest of more opulent mausoleums. Actually, Guatemala has the largest mausoleum known to humankind; it is called El Mirador. Around El Petén, where the pyramids of El Mirador are located, there are over dozen Mayan cities with huge mausoleums known as Mayan pyramids or ruins nowadays; Tikal being the most widely known of the bunch. A real wonder of the world!

No, I don’t think you were thinking about this niche market. Although these kind of niches are the origin for the concept of niche market. Well, the play on words may not work completely in English as it does in Spanish. Nicho is the Spanish term for niche and it applies to the market place, to an architectural recess, to a hollow, crack, crevice, or foothold, and from there to the hollow structure pictured above to receive the dead.

What do you call these hollow boxes in your part of town?

The San Lázaro Cemetery mimics the La Antigua Guatemala, with its many mausoleums. Walking around feels like walking around the City of the Dead.

The San Lázaro Cemetery is characterized by its many white mausoleums and tree-lined pathways. I have visited and photographed several cemeteries in Guatemala and México and this is the first time I see such clean and organized cemetery. It almost doesn’t feel like a Latin American cemetery until you begin to see the Antigüeño last names on the family mausoleums. Perhaps, this is the cemetery for the wealthy families of La Antigua Guatemala.

I am going to need the help of other Guatemalans and long-time residents that know more about the San Lázaro cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala. If you know any trivia or background information, please do share it with the rest of us.

On this note, I’d like to make another disclosure. La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo does not stand as a showcase of how much I know; rather it is a detailed record of how much I am learning along the way. Furthermore, it may stand as proof of how little I know about La Antigua Guatemala and Guatemala in general. I am just happy to share with all of you my findings and to learn from what others contribute. So, please, don’t be shy with your contributions.

The following song, by Oscar Chávez, is dedicated to Pirata Cojo who shared with us a poem about death by José Martí­, a Cuban poet who also wrote a beautiful poem about love and death by the name of La Niña de Guatemala (Guatemala’s Girl). Which brings me to Sompopo’s contribution of J.D. Salinger’s quote about cemeteries. All of you are welcomed and encouraged to share your favorites literature passages and quotes about death.

Without further ado, I present to you the main entrance to the San Lázaro General Cemetery as requested by some of you, over and over and over again; especially Sompopo. Come on people, you should have that necrophilia in check.

I subscribe to Woody Allen’s point of view when it comes to death.

I am not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens. —Woody Allen
I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying. —Woody Allen
(source: Brainyquote.com)

This photograph marks the beginning of the San Lázaro Cemetery series. I know Friday is a weird day to start a series, but since most people visit the cemetery on the weekends, I guess it’s okay. I have to warn you about the series though. This cemetery is not exceptional and quite frankly a little boring since it is mostly white. So, don’t expect any extraordinary or exotic shots.

On a different subject, what’s up with all those santos and santas. I am beginning to get a little tired, you know: Santiago, San Miguel, San Pedro Las Huertas, Santa Ana, San Antonio, San Francisco, San José, San Bartolo, San Juan del Obispo, San Cristobal, Santa Clara, Santa Lucí­a, and on and on and now San Lázaro. If L.A. was funded as “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Rí­o de Porciúncula,” I guess “Antigua” could have a similar names except that instead of Ángeles we would have Santos. Then, some people would feel compelled to abbreviate the name as L.S.

Why do you think they named this cemetery as San Lázaro?