Cardenas Cemetery. Considered a Necropolis for its Neoclassical construction façade, a recognized style within the built heritage of the Cuban Nation and for its heritage value from an artistic point of view due to the presence of 57 artistic sculptures of recognized value and eleven obelisks in its vaults and pantheons.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 2 Location
- 3 Inauguration
- 4 Plot
- 5 Construction characteristics
- 6 Patrimonial values
- 1 History
- 2 Architectural
- 3 Artistic:
- 7 Fuente
History
When Cárdenas was founded , burials were carried out in the Lagunillas cemetery, a few kilometers away.
The first official burial site in the town was in January 1841 , although this site was used provisionally in 1833 , during the Cholera epidemic that hit the region. It was located where the Santa Isabel municipal hospital was later built, it had little use because it was very close to the town.
The new Necropolis was built on the land donated by Mrs. María Luisa Souberville, where the Parque Occidente is currently located, it was inaugurated on the afternoon of September 8, 1847 , its construction was paid for by the neighbors and important sums lent by Mr. Colonel Dn. Javier Quintayros (Lieutenant Governor of this town), was open for more than twenty-five years, until in the seventh decade of the 20th century , it was once again inadequate due to its proximity to the population, and it is that the acquisition of a new site.
As of 1875 , the first requests begin and with this a great litigation between the City Council and the ecclesiastical authorities, for the property of the file of the new Cemetery. The first constructive actions began in 1878 , still in full legal litigation because it was not until June 21 , 1879 , that the General Government of the Island definitively declared that the sacred enclosure would be owned by common agreement between the City Council and the authorities. ecclesiastical.
Location
The new sacramental site is located on Calzada Final Oeste, 2.5 km from the city of Cárdenas, on land known as Panduro, leaving Cárdena to the left at the intersection of the road that leads to Cantel – Camarioca and Varadero .
opening
In the capitular acts that exist in the municipal archive of Cárdenas, the day of the inauguration of this Necropolis is not recorded, although it appears that in October 1880 the second Cemetery was already closed. In this regard, Ángel Abad writes in the book History of the Parishes of Cárdenas and Varadero,
“The official and solemn inauguration of this third Cemetery took place in January 1880. The sacred and civic ceremony, although there is no record of it, was undoubtedly solemn and emotional, like the one practiced by Father Navarro when he blessed the second Cemetery.”
“The works of the Cemetery were begun by the Church in 1878 . It is a pity that the incomplete administration book of the Cemetery is missing the first pages due to loss (because it was without covers),….
brought
The original plan of the work was made by the municipal architect with a straight layout, the entrance coincided with Central Street, the perpendiculars to the Central are named with letters, from A to E and the parallel ones with numbers; entering, to the right with even numbers reaching 8 and to the left with odd numbers, reaching 7, although at the beginning the thirteen streets that existed in the Cemetery had the names of saints.
Constructive features
In 1903 the simple and rustic wall that delimited the Campo Santo was replaced by the current portal, which gives a severe appearance but with beauty and elegance, the building is a civil construction with four Neoclassical style units, platbands surrounding the door openings and windows and smooth parapet, on the facade entering to the left are the offices and archives, a few meters from it and leaving the line of the facade the autopsy room, to the right two warehouses; the one at the entrance for all kinds of instruments and deposits that were handled in the Campo Santo, the mime was used during the Wars of Independence as a fort and another for the construction materials used by the administration.
patrimonial values
Vault of José Antonio Echeverría.
Historic
It acquires patrimonial value from the historical point of view because the Fort Cemetery built by the Spanish Government for tasks related to the independence struggle of 1895 is located within the cemetery . He took care of the road that goes from Cárdenas to Cantel and to Varadero .
It was besieged by the insurgent forces that operated in the area between the cemetery and the “Virama” farm.
The sacred site was visited by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and some personalities of the revolutionary struggle on January 8, 1959 , when he deviated from the Caravan of Freedom to visit the relatives of the leader of the Revolutionary Student Movement José Antonio Echeverría . and the tomb where his remains lie and he returns on March 13 of the following year, said compound was also visited by the Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida .
Pantheon of the De Rojas Family.
There is the Pantheon of the Veterans of the Wars of Independence and that of Carlos María de Rojas Cruzat . Brigadier General. Independence fighter from the city of Cárdenas in Matanzas province , considered the distinguished patriot of this city. In addition, the pantheon of the martyrs where the corpses of Cardenense internationalists rest, vaults of several martyrs of local history.
Architectural
Necropolis entrance
The cover is a Neoclassical construction, a recognized style within the built heritage of the Cuban Nation.
The front of the entrance has a wide convex railway gate, each of the elements of the gate ends in a spear point, giving it a majestic finish, on it uniting both sides of the façade a masonry arcade with elements in high relief simple and stylized, on each side of the portal and on the walls of the façade, two gray marble plaques with a summary of the legend of this construction.
Artistic:
Pantheon of Ma del Carmen Arechavala
Its patrimonial value from the artistic point of view lies in the fact that in the vaults and pantheons that are found in the 32 blocks there are 57 artistic sculptures of recognized value and eleven Obelisks.
Among them is that of Ma del Carmen Arechavala, daughter of the former owners of the Ron Arechavala factory. She is extraordinarily beautiful. Which is located on a small elevation with a staircase of three steps, surrounded by marble. In the center there is a large angel sitting on a base, with the following inscription:
“Ma del Carmen Arechavala September 12, 1909 . Memory. From her parents.
The current Necropolis, despite having the location and conditions necessary for its optimal functioning, at this time when the population density of Cardenenses is so high, it is small, the blocks are a few meters from the perimeter fence, so has proposed an extension of the monumental site.
