Having just visited my 150th cemetery/memorial site in just over 3 years, I thought it might be interesting to look at the overall numbers of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. Just sorting through the numbers have given me a few surprises – I didn’t realise Continue reading “Cemetery Roundup 2015-2018”
The 17th-century Church of Santa Engrácia became Lisbon’s pantheon in the 20th century in order to honour the country’s most illustrious people. It’s located in the Almafa district of the city, an area full of tiny winding streets that go up pretty steeply up the hill. Continue reading “Site 109: Lisbon’s Pantheon (Santa Engrácia)”
I thought perhaps I would give this cemetery a miss, as it was closed on Saturday and I had plans to go to Evora on Sunday. But I woke up not feeling well (perhaps the lingering effects of all the bug bites I had received a few days earlier) and the idea of travelling on the train Continue reading “Site 108: Lisbon’s Ajuda Cemetery”
So the Pleasure Cemetery (Prazeres in Portuguese) lies in the west of the city (or what used to be the west), and is the twin the Cemetery of Alto de São João in the east. At first glance, they do seem very similar – both on enviable hillside locations, both full of family Continue reading “Site 107: Lisbon’s Prazeres Cemetery”
With another really rainy day forecast, I thought I would try to go somewhere that would provide some measure of protection against the elements, which is how I ended up at at Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery (aka Hieronymites Monastery) early on Saturday morning. Continue reading “Site 106: Lisbon’s Jerónimos Monastery”
Back in 1833 a cholera epidemic ravaged the city, and Queen Maria II ordered the establishments of two cemeteries to deal with the dead – Prazeres in the west, and São João in the east. Since the latter was the closest to where I am staying in Lisbon, I decided to head here first. Continue reading “Site 105: Cemitério do Alto de São João”
This is one of Porto’s private cemeteries that survived the ban on private ones in the 19th century. This was probably due not only to the wealthy who were buried here, but was also due to the fact that it was on higher ground, far away from most homes (at the time). However, Continue reading “Site 104: Porto’s Cemitério da Lapa”
One of the most amazing interiors I have ever seen in a church is that of São Francisco’s in Porto. The carvings are astounding and it’s a place where you could just sit and observe and be awed. Over 100kg of gold leaf was used inside here, and at one point they closed the church Continue reading “Site 103: The Catacombs of São Francisco”
Plink plink. Plink plink plink. Plink. The rain was making music, as it hit one of many (lit) glass candles that were on the ground in front of the wall niches. It wasn’t a sound I had ever really heard before at a cemetery, but this sound followed me as I walked around the Continue reading “Site 102: Porto’s Prado do Repouso”
Today started wet and drizzly and it basically stayed that way all day. Still, I’m a fan of visiting (older) cemeteries in the rain, particularly old European ones (i.e. they don’t usually have a lot of grass – it’s mostly all stone, including the pathways). The rain always brings out more detail in the stones, Continue reading “Site 101: Porto’s Agramonte Cemetery”
stone and dust 