Archive for the ‘Cemetery’ Category

Niche Market in La Antigua Guatemala

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Empty Cemetery Niches

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?

Welcome to the City of the Dead

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

Welcome to the City of the Dead

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

Tree-lined Cemetery pathway in La Antigua Guatemala

Saturday, August 4th, 2007

Tree-lined Cemetery pathway in La Antigua Guatemala

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.

San Lázaro General Cemetery

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

San Lazaro Cemetery in La Antigua Guatemala

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?