Havana – Necropolis Cristobal Colon

The great an glorious of Havana have been buried in the Necropolis Cristobal Colon since 1868. Not content with a simple headstone, this cemetery is jammed packed full of immense, ostentatious monuments.

Getting to the cemetery was a bit of a trauma for me. I decided to walk here from the Plaza de la Revolution. I could see the cemetery from the tower and it didn’t seem far. Off I went. I soon came across the cemetery, but what I didn’t realise, is that there’s only one entrance. This is a big place. A REALLY big place. From where I first struck the wall to the entrance was a huge trek.

What made the trek worse, is that it was through the middle of a poor neighbourhood. There were people running about all over the place. There were cars sitting on cement blocks, smashed windows. The whole deal. It was like walking through a war zone. I wasn’t quite sure if the people saying hello were being friendly or casing me out for a mugging. I’m sure they were just being friendly, but I didn’t want to hang around to find out.

After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to find the entrance. The big monuments are right near the entrance, so I was able to have a sit down and look at some of the monuments. The older ones are the most impressive ones. People obviously thought they were pretty important judging by the huge size of some of these things.

My personal favourite was a tomb built by a local antiquarian. It was built in the shape of a pyramid. Just the thing to make sure that people for the rest of time think you are a big geek.

Everywhere you looked were angels, Jesus, crosses and other miscellaneous symbols. There are also a few tombs that are the sites of pilgrimages. Far from being a spooky place, the cemetery felt like a big sculpture park. It was interesting to walk around, but this place is huge. I checked out the big ones and left.