The General
Cemetery of Lima was built in 1807 outside the walls of the city, east of Lima
and on the farm of Santa Ana. The door number 4, which leads to the ancient
pantheon, is in the 17 block of Jiron Ancash in Barrios Altos. This old street
was laid by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city on January
18th, 1535, it has his point of origin in the Jiron de la Union in
full intersection with the Stone Bridge. Along its route are also Station
Homeless, the rear door of the Government Palace, the House of the 13 doors,
the Convent and Basilica of St. Francisco, School of Fine Arts of Lima, the
Church of the Trinity the convent of St. Camilo, the Church of Santa Clara, the
Institute of Neuropathology, and the Cemetery “El Ángel”. Now finishes its
route on Avenida Riva Agüero, but be demolished before the Wall of Lima ended
on the Cover of Wonderland.
The
cemetery was a representation of the city in miniature. The streets and Cuartes
reproduced the organization of Lima and also showed the social status of its
inhabitants, then, the goal of the new rich was not just shine in life but pass
into posterity through the beauty of the sculptures. Materials such as marble,
iron, bronze, stone and brocade were used to make this cemetery where the
remains of heroes, presidents, thinkers and poets. The wall is brick and lime.
The mezzanine floor of cement and sand. The fence is iron and finish of the
exterior is of lime and sand. To access the cemetery was also revamped the
Cover of Wonderland, old name of the street that led to the church of Saint
Christ, located in the Plaza las Maravillas in Barrios Altos.
The general
Jose de St. Martin was who on October 25, 1821, imposed the prohibition of the
burials were in the churches, and it is from that date that our Cemetery enters
new stage of development.
Years later, in
1847, in the government of Mariscal Ramón Castillathe construction of
mausoleums were authorized; thus entering monumental art to the cemetery.
In December 1906, the government of Mr. Jose
Pardo and Barreda established the amount of eight thousand pounds of the
general budget of the Republic erected on the cemetery "a funeral
chapel" to deposit in it the rest of the defenders of the Nation in the
war of 1879. Also, in August 22nd,
1908 it was determined that those who distinguished themselves in this fight
and whose remains had not been found, would be listed by name in wall plates
inside the crypt, including those who already rested in mausoleums own. The
Crypt of Heroes was inaugurated on September 8th, 1908.
Now the
Public Charities of Lima offers nightly guided tours twice a month. These have
been called "Full Moon Night", consisting of a tour where the history
of the famous people who are buried are narrated there.
María Sánchez
