Beyond the Death: Remembrance, Memoryand Heritage AGM 2014 PUBLICATION ASCE & Cementiris de Barcelona
Cementiris de Barcelona is very
Nevertheless, little by little and
proud of offering this publication,
thanks to many people of different
which
backgrounds
some
presenters
of
and
the other
AGM ASCE
members have collaborated with.
and
workfields,
cemeteries are being regarded as a source of History, Culture, Art and Collective Memory.
Enhancing cemeteries as cultural heritage sites is, undoubtedly,
We hope these articles will be of
hard
your interest and will bring you
work.
Due
to
their
specificities, we still have to break
new ideas to apply in your area.
many tabus, many prejudices, and we have to preserve and protect a material heritage which is very fragile and a volatile intangible heritage.
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Ioanna Paraskevopoulou Researcher in the History of the First Cemetery of Athens
Why have we forgotten? Memorials of oblivion in the First Cemetery of Athens
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Abstract: Modern cemeteries are not only places of memory, but also places of oblivion; places of selective memory either because the gravemarkers refer only to the memorable aspects of the deceased or because they contain no biographical information at all. Concealing the truth and remembering solely what we wish to remember raises questions on whether and to what degree cemeteries can contribute to the emergence of historic truth. In the Greek language, the word “truth” (a-lithia), means “that which cannot be forgotten” (lithi means forgetting). The restoration of truth is attempted through the presentation of three memorials of oblivion in the First Cemetery of
Athens, while an additional method for a historical reading in cemetery spaces is also suggested.
Resumen: Los cementerios modernos no son sólo lugares de memoria, sino también lugares de olvido; o de otra manera, lugares de memoria selectiva - como en el caso de las lápidas de las tumbas - que hacen referencia sólo a los aspectos memorables de los muertos, o lugares donde ni siquiera mencionan algún dato biográfico de los muertos. Silenciando la verdad y manteniendo la memoria de lo que sólo deseamos recordar, se plantea la duda de si los cementerios pueden contribuir a la necesidad de la verdad histórica y en qué medida pueden hacerlo. En
griego, la palabra “verdad”(a-licia), significa “lo que no se olvida” (lici significa “olvidar”). Con el análisis de tres tumbas (obra en memoria de los difuntos) del Primer Cementerio de Atenas, se intenta restablecer una realidad, al mismo tiempo que se propone un método para una lectura histórica en el ámbito de los cementerios.
Keywords: Memorial monuments, Inscriptions, Mnemonic traces, Traumatic memory, Municipal archives.
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”
M. Kundera, The book of laughter and forgetting, 1979
At the beginning of the nineteenth century and 1832, in particular, a few years after the Greek War of Independence (1821-1827), a Bavarian government is installed in Greece. The foreign administration composes a new legislative framework according to the western standards. One of the newly introduced institutions is the creation of municipal cemeteries under the Royal Decree of 1834 (Government Gazzette n. 16 in Nafplio 5-5-1834). That same year, 1834, Athens is declared capital of the modern Greek State and the First cemetery is the first municipal cemetery to operate in the new capital in 1838.i This cemetery is connected to the history of the modern Greek State for one additional reason: most of its illustrious figures have been interred there. Politicians, military
men, scholars, artists have been buried in the First cemetery since the nineteenth century (Eminent Graves, n.d. First Cemetery administration archives); it contains some of the most wonderful specimens of modern Greek sculpture (Listed Memorials, n.d., First Cemetery administration archives).ii During the first half of the twentieth century and until 1943 (Daniel, 2007, p.35) the area covered by the historic cemetery is fixed and a new square is created at the entrance. This square functions as a “Pantheon” (Rugg, 2000: p.2712), since this is where most of the memorable personalities The inscription at the gate of the mausoleum mentions the name of the family it belongs to: the Families of Korniliou and Ioannou
Central Square First Cemetery of Athens
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Alvanopoulou; nothing else. There is no date, no other information about the family, which is not part of the known Athenian elite.
The truth, however, lies far and away from these first impressions. Information on these three monuments was not found neither in the cemetery nor in the bibliography, but in the archives of the city council sessions
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On the opposite side of the corridor, there are the graves of eminent politicians. The simplicity of the monuments is impressive. Among them is the grave of a historic mayor of Athens. Only his name and his profession are written on the gravestone; no date of birth, no date of death. Kostas G. Kotzias – Mayor of Athens. In the same sector where politicians are interred, and, particularly, behind the Kotzias grave, a bronze life size statue of a famous actress rises. The inscription has her name and the year of her death, Marika Kotopouli 1954, but not her profession, which is nonetheless evident by the expression of the sculpture. There is then a skyscraper tomb on which only the name of the owner is written, a simple low grave where the name and profession or position of the deceased are combined and, finally, a statue depicting a dead actress. It sounds reasonable for the memorial monument of a rich yet unknown family not to carry information on its origins, for one of the most popular mayors of Athens not to have need of time stamps and demarcations and for one of the most prominent Greek actresses to have the right to be buried among important political men. The truth, however, lies far and away from these first impressions. Besides, the history of a monument is not exhausted with its materiality, even if graves are involved. Information
on these three monuments was not found neither in the cemetery nor in the bibliography, but in the archives of the city council sessions.iii
This source tells us that in 1946, just after the liberation of Athens from the Germans, the city council decides to tear down the Alvanopoulos mausoleum, built in 1942 during the Occupation. It belongs to two brothers, Ioannis and Kornilios, contractors that became rich during the war. After the war, they went on trial and their fortune was seized. As a moral vindication, the Athens city council decides to destroy their family grave (City Council Order 8/5-81946, book 109, p.339-45). Even though this action was approved, the monument was never torn down. It is still there even today, confirming that an after-the-fact punishment is merely virtual. The only indication that the mausoleum is stigmatized is its state of neglect. These traces are the only real evidence of its history. During the next decade, in 1951, Mayor Kotzias dies. He is buried honorably and free of charge, as it is customary for people with significant public presence (City Council Order 626/9-12-1951, book 125, p.241-3). What is not usual, especially in the twentieth century, is to embalm the deceased. The municipality even pays for the embalming expenses (City Council Order 21/15-1-1952, book 125, p.495-6), and Kotzias is the only known deceased that has been embalmed, not just in the First cemetery, but perhaps in the whole
of Europe. So, the reason there are no dates on his grave isn't because he is still considered one of the most important mayors of Athens, but because he is indeed not just another dead body like all else. He has died, but he hasn't decomposed; nor has he been cremated. On the contrary, his mortal remains will be preserved forever; hence, time limits are redundant and their absence is the only evidence of the history of his burial.
Three years after Kotzias' imperial burial, in 1954, Marika Kotopouli, the famous tragedienne, dies. Her burial in that spot, among political men, causes a scandal in the city council session. A councilor will not hesitate to say that this space is meant for the burials of eminent men and for this reason, the Kotopouli burial should not be allowed in that particular spot. Finally, the grave is given to her, because D. Helmis, her rich husband, promises to erect an artistic monument, that will beautify the central square of the First cemetery (City Council Order 741/15-9-1955, book 143, p.5961). Three years before that, in 1952, women are by law allowed to vote for the first time. The grave of a famous woman is found among famous men, symbolizing thus the equality among sexes, established with the introduction of women's suffrage. This equality exists, however, only on paper. This woman would not have been interred there, if her husband hadn't spent a fortune on her memorial monument that beautifies the interment space of
political men. Exactly because the surrounding graves belonging to eminent men are simplistic, the placement of an impressive sculpture of a woman is legitimized, so it can make this male-dominated First cemetery political scene more appealing. The evidence of this monument's history are thus not even found on the monument itself, but in its surrounding grounds.
The signs of neglect on the Alvanopoulos mausoleum, the absence of dates on the Kotzias grave and the location of the Kotopouli monument are the mnemonic traces of the history of these three monuments. In the end, finding the traces present on the graves restores the truth (a-lithia), clarifying that in places of memory this process is necessary for their identification. The cemeteries are spaces of memory, “lieux de memoire” (Nora, 1989: p. 12-9), exactly because they contain these mnemonic traces and are thus able to deny oblivion (lithi). So if we forget in a cemetery, this is due, first, to the fact that these traces of “habitual memory” (Connerton, 1989: p. 72) are hard to discern: dust, silence and differentiation from their surroundings were the evidence the sample provided; second, to the fact that in the space for the dead, a selective, manipulated memory is exercised. The superficial, incomplete or selective reading of the monuments makes them monuments of oblivion, since we don't know the truth about them. Oblivion serves the easy, but problematic management of the traumatic
Marika Kotopouli 1954; Sculptor K. Loukopoulos
Families of Ioannou and Korniliou Alvanopoulou
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collective and institutional memory (Liakos, 2007: p. 223-7). And the period before and after the Second World War is filled with traumatic events. The superficial, incomplete or selective reading of the monuments makes them monuments of oblivion, since we don't know the truth about them. Oblivion serves the easy, but problematic management of the traumatic collective and institutional memory
For example, along with the Alvanopoulos memorial, the punishment of those who committed crimes on behalf of the Occupation forces is announced in 1946, but it was never carried out, since the political crimes and the civil war have not stopped. With the Kotzias burial in 1951, the lack of legitimization of the current situation leads to an idealization of the past, i.e. to the public expenditure for embalming an eminent deceased that is connected to the previous era. The Kotopouli statue in 1955 makes obvious that the political requests of women, and the minorities in general, are only ostensibly heard within the conservative and elitist state, thus reaffirming rather than denying the status quo.
The use of multiple sources during research on cemeteries is the only tool that promises a more objective
examination of their history than the one provided by the memorial monuments or their monumentifications, the official bodies and the widely accepted narratives. The legal framework, public history, municipal archives, and field research combined are able to restore parts of the truth, reassessing marginalized events and deciphering the messages and symbolisms that accompany the graves. These graves, these utilitarian material objects, become then historical monuments; and the space that contains them, the cemetery, becomes one of the rare public spaces that can inspire free discourse, criticism and historical conscience. After all, this is the most important contribution of the study of cemeteries to history: that it drives it to confront itself. Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank for his guidance and valuable advice Mr. Georgios Kritikos, professor at the Harokopeio University of Athens. Thanks are also expressed to Mr Stamos Galounis, Mrs Ioanna
Kostas G Kotzias Mayor of Athens
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Kserra and Mr Nikos Ntolos from the administration office of the First Cemetery of Athens for their permission and help in accessing archival materials, as well as Mrs Zetta Antonopoulou, Mr Anastasis Oustampasidis and Mrs Efthymia Douka of the Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens. Finally, I would to thank Mrs Magda Kossyva for her assistance with the translation of this paper in Spanish. References:
Archival: (Sources in Greek) • Government Gazzette n. 16 in Nafplio 5-5-1834, Διάταγμα «Περί των νεκροταφείων και του ενταφιασμού των νεκρών» • First Cemetery Administration Archives, “Eminent Graves”, n.d. • First Cemetery Administration Archives, “Listed Memorials”, n.d. • Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens, City Council Order 8/5-8-1946, book 109, «Περί έγκρισης πρότασης δημοτικού συμβούλου Ι. Κουτσοχέρα περί κατεδαφίσεως του προ της κεντρικής εισόδου του Α’ νεκροταφείου μαυσωλείου της οικογένειας Αλβανόπουλου» • Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens, City Council Order 626/9-12-1951, book 125, «Αναγγελία θανάτου του ιστορικού δημάρχου Αθηναίων Κ. Κοτζιά»
•
•
Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens, City Council Order 21/15-1-1952, book 125, «Περί έγκρισης πληρωμής δαπάνης για την ταρίχευση της σορού του Κ. Κοτζιά» Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens, City Council Order 741/15-9-1955, book 143, «Περί τροποποίησης τοπογραφικού ταφολογίου Α’ νεκροταφείου για την ανέγερση μνημείου της Μ. Κοτοπούλη»
Secondary: • Connerton P., How societies remember, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1989 • Daniel M., (Source in Greek) Δανιήλ Μ. Τα πρώτα κοιμητήρια της Αθήνας, Τα Αθηναϊκά -Έκδοσις του Συλλόγου Αθηναίων, τχ. 112, Αθήνα: 2007 • Liakos Α., (Source in Greek) Λιάκος Α., Πως το παρελθόν γίνεται ιστορία, Πόλις, Αθήνα: 2007 • Nora P., Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire, Representations 26, 1989, The Regents of the University of California, 2014, http://woodlawnschool.pbwor ks.com/w/file/fetch/6074025 8/Les%20lieux%20de%20me moire.pdf • Rugg J., Defining the place of burial: What makes a cemetery a cemetery?, Mortalily, Vol. 5, No.3, UK: 2000, http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/fa
culty/jhamlin/4960/Defining %20Place.pdf
Footnotes:
i 1838 is the year of the oldest inscription found on a tomb in the First Cemetery of Athens. ii The graves of eminent historical personalities are 157 and the recognized artistic memorial monuments are 769. iii The Historical and Municipal Archives of the Municipality of Athens date back to 1841 and include the proceedings from the city from the city council sessions as well as its decisions.
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Elisa Beneyto Gómez Licenciada en Historia del Arte y Máster en Gestión Cultural Lluís Vidal Pérez Licenciado en Historia e Historia del Arte
Los cementerios contemporáneos como reflejo de la sociedad industrial: puesta en valor del cementerio de Alcoy (Alicante)
Abstract: Contemporary cemeteries can be thought of as a further source for the study of industrial society. Furthermore, giving value and enhancing the funerary heritage are common strategies in both touristic and cultural environments. This paper concentrates on the evolution of industrial society based on both Alcoy cemetery and its successive reforms. From its morphology we can access the social diversity in Alcoy throughout its industrial process which was pioneer in its geographical area. We also appreciate the artistic diversity therein.
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Resumen: Los cementerios contemporáneos pueden ser
considerados como una fuente de información más en el estudio de la sociedad industrial. Además, “Dar Valor” y "Poner en Valor” el patrimonio funerario son estrategias que se utilizan actualmente en contextos turísticos y culturales. Este artículo se centra en la evolución de la sociedad industrial partiendo del estudio del Cementerio de Alcoy, así como en las actuaciones que se han seguido para su puesta en valor. Partiendo de su morfología, podemos conocer la diversidad social que se da en Alcoy a lo largo de su proceso de industrialización, pionero en el ámbito valenciano, así como apreciar la diversidad artística a la que da lugar.
Keywords: Alcoy, Contemporary cemeteries, Industrial society, Funerary art, Enhancement. Valor histórico y artístico de los cementerios contemporáneos Los cementerios son el testigo visible de las diferentes formas de sentir y representar la muerte que tiene una sociedad a lo largo del tiempo. Tradicionalmente, el estudio de estos recintos se había abordado exclusivamente desde una perspectiva arqueológica, en cuanto a restos materiales que aportaban información no solamente sobre los usos y costumbres funerarios de cualquier civilización, sino también sobre las jerarquías y distinciones sociales que se hacían patentes también en el momento de la muerte. Sin embargo, esta perspectiva histórica desaparecía cuando se llegaba a los cementerios decimonónicos, paralelamente a una concepción historiográfica generalizada que denostaba el método arqueológico para las sociedades contemporáneas.
En el caso español, es en la década de 1970 cuando, desde la historiografía del Arte, empiezan a valorarse estos recintos, primero desde la arquitectura y el urbanismo y, más tarde, atendiendo también a los estilos escultóricos. Otros investigadores que se dedicarán a su estudio serán los historiadores de la medicina y la sanidad, debido al papel profiláctico que jugarán los
cementerios frente a las numerosas epidemias y enfermedades derivadas del hacinamiento y la insalubridad en los núcleos industriales. Pero la obra que, sin duda, marcará un antes y un después en la visión y el estudio de estos lugares será El hombre ante la muerte, de Philippe Ariès, una auténtica historia del rito de paso hacia la muerte en Occidente. A partir de aquí, la sociología y la antropología irán unidas indisolublemente a las investigaciones sobre los espacios funerarios, como quedará patente en las diferentes aportaciones al Primer Encuentro Internacional sobre cementerios contemporáneos, celebrado en Sevilla en 1991.
Varias investigaciones y tesis doctorales los considerarán ya como fuente histórica, sin despreciar su valor patrimonial, puesto que se convierten en auténticos museos al aire libre con un amplio catálogo de estilos arquitectónicos, escultóricos y de las artes aplicadas, en ocasiones con mayor libertad de la permitida en el ámbito urbano. Un importante impulso a esta valoración ha sido, a partir del Primer Congreso Europeo de Cementerios Históricos, celebrado en Valencia en 2007, la creación de la Asociación de Cementerios Significativos de Europa (ASCE), la cual ha promovido la Ruta Europea de Cementerios.
Actualmente, los cementerios son considerados como una fuente histórica más, en cuanto a fiel reflejo de la sociedad a la cual
Varias investigaciones y tesis doctorales considerarán ya los cementerios como fuente histórica, sin despreciar su valor patrimonial, puesto que se convierten en auténticos museos al aire libre
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Las industrias textil y papelera, a las que se añadirá más tarde la metalúrgica, generarán en Alcoy fuertes distinciones sociales que se reflejarán tanto en la “ciudad de los vivos” como en la “ciudad de los muertos”
Proyecto del Cementerio, obra de Enrique Vilaplana en 1889
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pertenecen, y específicamente los cementerios de la sociedad industrial, que nos permitirán apreciar más claramente todos los acontecimientos históricos, sociales y artísticos propios de esta etapa. Por ello, su puesta en valor es un instrumento necesario para difundirlo como una parte más de todo el bagaje histórico que conforma el Patrimonio Industrial.
Precisamente, este último aspecto constituye la base del presente estudio, la tesis doctoral Los cementerios como reflejo de la sociedad industrial: el Cementerio de Alcoy, en fase de elaboración por Elisa Beneyto Gómez en el Departamento de Historia del Arte de la Universidad de Valencia. El ejemplo de Alcoy constituye un caso paradigmático en la industrialización valenciana, y como tal nos permite apreciar todos los retos y todas las propuestas estéticas que la sociedad industrial requerirá del mundo funerario.
El Cementerio de Alcoy y la sociedad industrial Las profundas transformaciones derivadas del liberalismo económico tendrán un gran impacto en Alcoy. Las industrias textil y papelera, fundamentalmente, a las que se añadirá más tarde la metalúrgica, generarán fuertes distinciones sociales que se reflejarán tanto en la "ciudad de los vivos" como en la "ciudad de los muertos". Las limitaciones físicas en los espacios urbanoindustriales, agravadas por el incremento de población parejo a la incipiente industrialización, también eran extensibles a los recintos funerarios, y ya a finales del XVIII se hallaban saturados tanto el cementerio parroquial, anexo a la iglesia, como los distintos lugares que habían ido habilitándose en el interior de los edificios religiosos existentes. En este contexto se produce la influencia de las ideas ilustradas y
el auge del cientifismo, que intentará resolver muchos de los problemas de salubridad urbana. Así, el monarca Carlos III será el primero en promover unas Reales Cédulas que tratarán de establecer unos criterios para situar los cementerios en ubicaciones ventiladas y fuera de poblado. En Alcoy se aplicarán relativamente pronto, con la creación extramuros del llamado Cementerio Viejo en 1812, pero pronto demostrará ser ineficaz para afrontar la elevada mortalidad que sufría la ciudad, debido a las pésimas condiciones de vida del proletariado y a la proliferación de enfermedades. En 1885, debido a su proximidad al casco urbano y a la fuerte epidemia de cólera que asolaba la ciudad, se procede a habilitar de manera provisional el recinto del actual
Cementerio Municipal de Cantagallet o de San Antonio Abad. Posteriormente, se decide adquirir una parcela más grande y elaborar un proyecto para establecer definitivamente el cementerio en este mismo lugar, resultando ganador el presentado por el ingeniero alcoyano Enrique Vilaplana Juliá, con fecha de 29 de agosto de 1889. Se valoró especialmente el destinar un amplio espacio a fosa general, pensado para el sector mayoritario de población, un proletariado que, como venimos apuntando, sufría elevadas tasas de mortalidad. En cualquier caso, la variedad de clases sociales producidas por la industrialización generará, al mismo tiempo, diferentes tipologías y recintos, convirtiendo
al Cementerio en un auténtico espacio de representación social: - Fosa general: habilitada desde un primer momento, es la que mayor presencia tiene en la necrópolis, siendo simples zanjas en el suelo señaladas con sencillas cruces de madera o hierro, cuando no completamente anónimas. - Nichos: construcciones en vertical para aprovechar mejor el espacio, comienzan a proyectarse en 1893. Con el tiempo será la tipología más utilizada, pero en un principio iban destinados a personas de clase media, albergando algunos de ellos auténticas obras de arte en el relieve de sus lápidas. - Fosas-nicho: tipología surgida como la anterior, en 1893, en este caso destinada a las clases sociales
Zona de panteones familiares a inicios del siglo XX.
Proyecto del Cementerio, obra de Enrique Vilaplana en 1889.
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Tramo de fosas-nicho, ejemplo de Eclecticismo.
más pudientes, que también utilizarán los panteones exentos. Por su estética son cercanas a éstos, y consisten en enterramientos practicados en el suelo combinados con casilicios adosados al muro.
- Fosas de Zanja Distinguida: en un principio formaban parte de la zona de fosa general, pero a partir de 1894 se habilitará este espacio en torno al pasillo central para aquellos que podían permitirse una tumba con decoración escultórica o arquitectónica. En un primer momento iban destinadas al mismo sector de población que los nichos, las clases medias provenientes de profesiones liberales. - Panteones exentos: las diferentes formas y estilos que presentarán los panteones darán lugar, sin duda, a la mayor variedad estilística e iconográfica de este singular
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Galerías subterráneas, únicas en su forma en España, ventiladas e iluminadas de forma natural.
cementerio. Los mausoleos comenzarán a tomar forma a partir de 1894, colocándose lo más cerca posible de la avenida principal del cementerio y de la proyectada capilla central que nunca llegó a construirse. De este modo, se observa que se repiten los esquemas de enterramiento romano y medieval, cerca de las vías para adquirir mayor prestancia y lo más próximo a los templos para alcanzar la salvación.
- Galerías subterráneas: las tres galerías, construidas a partir de 1895 y situadas en el subsuelo, están consideradas como únicas dentro de la arquitectura funeraria española. Ofrecen buena ventilación e iluminación natural, siendo una apuesta moderna y funcional de Enrique Vilaplana para aprovechar mejor el espacio de la superficie y al mismo tiempo
contener los desniveles del terreno. Se proyectaron para destinarlas a la burguesía, que podían situar un monumento funerario en superficie, pero siempre hubo preferencia por los panteones exentos. - Hipogeos: diseñados en 1909 por el arquitecto Timoteo Briet Montahud, obtendrá el modelo del Cementerio de Montjuïc de Barcelona, siendo unos panteones familiares adosados al muro que servían para estandarizar este tipo de enterramiento y consolidar, a su vez, el desnivel del terreno. Además de estas tipologías, otras necesidades originarán, a su vez, la distinción de diferentes espacios o recintos:
- Cementerio Civil: la primitiva parcela destinada a todos aquellos
disidentes de la religión católica estaba situada en las inmediaciones del acceso al recinto general. Hacia 1906, y ante la necesidad de construir viviendas para el enterrador y el capellán, así como la sala de autopsias y el depósito de cadáveres, se decidió trasladarlo a los terrenos de la primera ampliación. Puede apreciarse la búsqueda de una iconografía diferente de la cristiana, introduciendo elementos referidos a los oficios, además del empleo de una vegetación que, a modo de un pequeño jardín romántico, evoca la melancolía propia de los cementerios anglosajones.
- Parcela de militares: la huelga revolucionaria de 1873, conocida como “Revolución del Petróleo”, supuso el establecimiento de un Regimiento de Infantería acuartelado de forma permanente en Alcoy. En 1910, y por orden gubernativa, se hubo de habilitar una parcela cementerial en todas aquellas poblaciones que contasen con cuartel, en este caso para enterramiento en suelo.
- Recinto del clero: proyectado en 1905, además de los nichos albergará en el centro mismo de esta parcela una capilla de uso público, para paliar la ausencia de la que figuraba en el proyecto general y que nunca se construyó por razones económicas.
- Recinto de religiosas: las congregaciones femeninas locales tuvieron su lugar de inhumación a partir de 1925, anexo al anterior y también en nicho.
- Osario: el antiguo depósito para restos fue cubierto, en 1990, con una capilla-cenotafio que sirve también como memorial para alcoyanos ilustres, inspirada en la Capilla Woodland de Estocolmo. Por último, la evolución cultural en los ritos funerarios pareja a la modernidad, inspirará otras necesidades funcionales:
- Columbarios: planificados a partir de los años 50, y tomando el modelo de los ubicados en el Cementerio Municipal de Alicante, en un primer momento fueron útiles para albergar restos óseos provenientes de las mondas periódicas, necesarias por las sucesivas remodelaciones. A finales del siglo XX tendrán mayor difusión para dar respuesta a las cada vez más habituales incineraciones.
- Pozo de las cenizas: con una inspiración claramente evocadora del retorno a la tierra, este pozo introducido en 2006 será un elemento plenamente funcional para depositar también las incineraciones.
En el Cementerio Civil puede apreciarse la búsqueda de una iconografía diferente de la cristiana, introduciendo elementos referidos a los oficios, además del empleo de una vegetación que, a modo de un pequeño jardín romántico, evoca la melancolía propia de los cementerios anglosajones.
El cementerio se convierte, así, en un fiel reflejo de la sociedad industrial y, como venimos apuntando, en una fuente histórica más para su estudio, pero no hay que desdeñar tampoco su gran valor patrimonial y artístico. Un museo al aire libre
La gran variedad de estilos arquitectónicos y escultóricos unidos a las artes aplicadas que encontramos en estos recintos
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Pante贸n Gisbert de 1903, en la transici贸n hacia el Modernismo y primera visita realizada en el 2010.
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constituyen por sí mismos un atractivo cultural de primer orden en el que podemos apreciar la evolución de dos siglos de arte. En el caso que nos ocupa, incluso, podemos partir del Academicismo decimonónico, presente en los diversos elementos funerarios trasladados desde el Cementerio Viejo tras su clausura. Destaca por su antigüedad un obelisco academicista de 1838, además de diversas lápidas con una iconografía que nos remite a modelos anteriores.
A través de las diversas tipologías mencionadas podemos apreciar un amplio catálogo estilístico, aunque sin duda son los panteones la zona de mayor variedad y riqueza, no sólo por su concepción como microarquitecturas exentas, sino también por su interesante evolución en paralelo a los gustos estéticos y culturales de una burguesía plenamente industrializada.
Es significativo reseñar que, a finales del siglo XIX, los panteones dejan de ser exclusivamente monumentos conmemorativos y adoptan la morfología de auténticas capillas para la saga familiar. Como ya pasaba en los antiguos cementerios urbanos medievales, las élites sociales tienen la necesidad de contar con un lugar diferenciado. La planta casi siempre será centralizada, imagen de inmutabilidad del espacio, y frecuentemente estará rodeada con un cercado y se ubicará de forma visible el nombre de la familia, reforzando así el concepto de
propiedad privada análogamente a las viviendas urbanas.
Partiendo de un Eclecticismo finisecular con profusión simbólica de tipo decorativo, será evidente una tendencia hacia los historicismos o "revivals", pero no entendidos como interpretaciones arqueológicas, sino basados en motivos y fórmulas difundidos mediante álbumes de láminas y repertorios, casi siempre de cementerios franceses.
Ya en la transición hacia el nuevo siglo será cuando empiezan a estudiarse propuestas experimentales e innovadoras, acompañadas del uso de materiales propios de la industrialización, como el cemento y el hierro. Así, el Modernismo de corte "Nouveau" y "Sezession", y su evolución posterior en el "Art Déco", cuentan con ejemplos originales y significativos. A medida que avance el siglo XX, y de forma paralela a lo que sucede en las ciudades, se impondrá la estandarización de las formas arquitectónicas, el recurso a los catálogos escultóricos y la pérdida de personalidad y creatividad en estos recintos, aunque no dejen de ensayarse propuestas del Racionalismo y del Movimiento Postmoderno, que acaban por conformar, en un espacio orgánico y abarcable a la medida humana, un auténtico museo de la Historia del Arte Contemporáneo.
Es significativo reseñar que, a finales del siglo XIX, los panteones dejan de ser exclusivamente monumentos conmemorativos y adoptan la morfología de auténticas capillas para la saga familiar. Como ya pasaba en los antiguos cementerios urbanos medievales, las élites sociales tienen la necesidad de contar con un lugar diferenciado.
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Puesta en valor patrimonial
y difusión
En cuanto a elemento patrimonial cercano, accesible y generalmente bien conservado, los cementerios ofrecen una oportunidad única para su difusión y puesta en valor desde un punto de vista cultural y turístico, aunque sin perder nunca de vista el objetivo funcional para el que han sido creados.
Es por ello que, una vez establecida la significación del Cementerio de Alcoy en el ámbito académico, restaba consolidar esta iniciativa y hacerla llegar a un público general. Era preciso que se conociera no sólo la historia y el arte, sino también las singularidades que este espacio ofrecía en el conjunto de los cementerios nacionales, tanto por tipologías únicas como las galerías subterráneas, como por la completa visión del afloramiento industrial y urbanístico de la propia
ciudad de Alcoy, que podía ofrecer en un breve recorrido.
El primer objetivo fue emprender una serie de actuaciones que contribuyeran a generar la necesidad de "consumir" este producto cultural, como fue la publicación de una serie de artículos de divulgación en los medios locales de comunicación (prensa escrita y digital, revistas...) aprovechando, especialmente, la fiesta de Todos los Santos y la amplia difusión que aseguraba. Otro ámbito imprescindible fue la promoción en las redes sociales, lo que suponía, además de una herramienta de comunicación con el público interesado, una forma de llegar a un sector más amplio de población. A la vez que desarrollábamos todas estas tareas de consolidación, se contactó con la Concejalía de Turismo y se les ofreció la
posibilidad de elaborar una guía informativa, en forma de tríptico, para todos aquellos visitantes interesados en estos espacios, iniciativa que tuvo una acogida favorable. A continuación, diseñamos una ruta guiada por el recinto que alcanzara la fisonomía de todos aquellos espacios y modalidades singulares que se han perpetuado a lo largo del tiempo, a la vez que ofreciera un recorrido por la historia reciente de la ciudad, para concluir así una visión de conjunto de este espacio.
Debido a la buena acogida de estas estrategias, la propia Concejalía de Turismo nos ofreció dar un nuevo impulso a la puesta en valor. Como eje principal, propusimos la consolidación de la ruta guiada, con una duración de dos horas, bajo la denominación de Alcoy: la Ciudad Dormida. Ésta vendría acompañada de una reedición del tríptico en tres idiomas y con la representación
Recuperación de las tradicionales danzas de velatorio, por el Grup de Danses Sant Jordi
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gráfica de la propia ruta, así como de una serie de paneles informativos y de situación ubicados en el mismo recinto; por último, confeccionamos un audiovisual promocional que estaría enlazado, mediante un código QR, a los mismos trípticos y paneles. De forma paralela, se iniciaron los trámites con el comité de ASCE para gestionar la inclusión en la Ruta Europea de Cementerios, como así fue después del correspondiente informe técnico y su valoración.
La ruta guiada se ha consolidado con una progresiva demanda de asistentes. También se ha creado su versión nocturna, que se realiza dos veces al año; e incluso se ha trabajado en la recuperación de elementos etnológicos como las tradicionales danzas de velatorio, introducidas en alguna visita.
Esta circunstancia fue aprovechada para la presentación oficial en Fitur 2013, con una rueda de prensa para los medios de comunicación de ámbito nacional. Además, se organizó una jornada de difusión entre un público más especializado en temas de patrimonio, consistente en una comunicación y una mesa redonda para debatir sobre las posibilidades turísticas y culturales del Cementerio, así como las particularidades de protección patrimonial que un recinto así debe recibir, con la participación de varios expertos. Desde entonces, la ruta guiada se ha consolidado con una progresiva demanda de asistentes, organizándola periódicamente con la colaboración y patrocinio de la Concejalía de Turismo. También se ha creado su versión nocturna, que se realiza dos veces al año, en mayo y septiembre, coincidiendo con la Semana Europea de los Cementerios Significativos y el Día Internacional del Turismo,
respectivamente; e incluso se ha trabajado en la recuperación de elementos etnológicos como las tradicionales danzas de velatorio, introducidas en alguna visita.
Tampoco hemos dejado de participar en varios congresos y jornadas para profundizar en diferentes aspectos y matices del estudio desarrollado, además de continuar publicando artículos tanto en medios locales como en otros más especializados. Otra vertiente a explorar, aprovechando nuestra experiencia docente, fue la de acercar culturalmente el Cementerio al alumnado de Secundaria, con la creación de una unidad didáctica acompañada de la posterior visita. Se han trabajado, en este caso, aspectos tan variados como la simbología, la botánica, las costumbres y las creencias funerarias, pero también el respeto y valor que estos espacios tienen en el colectivo urbano. Por otro lado, los profesores del Ciclo Formativo Superior de Turismo nos pidieron colaboración para impartir una clase teórica, mostrando a sus alumnos estos nuevos retos turísticos. Para el futuro inmediato, aprovechando el 125 aniversario del proyecto constructivo que ideara Enrique Vilaplana, se ha diseñado una edición especial de la visita guiada acompañada de diversas evocaciones literarias, musicales y escénicas, así como una exposición sobre 5.000 años de costumbres funerarias en el término municipal de Alcoy. Como
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colofón final, trataremos de compendiar en una monografía de carácter divulgativo el estudio que dio origen a todas estas iniciativas, que han convertido la vertiente cultural del Cementerio en un atractivo más de la ciudad de Alcoy, además de ser un referente en cuanto a diversificación de estrategias para la valoración del patrimonio funerario. Conclusiones
Para finalizar este estudio, es conveniente plantearse la contribución de todas estas iniciativas al conocimiento histórico y artístico de la evolución de los recintos cementeriales contemporáneos, partiendo del caso concreto de Alcoi. El objetivo principal ha sido establecer un paralelismo entre la “ciudad de los vivos” y la “ciudad de los muertos”. Así, condicionado por sus necesidades sociales e históricas, el recinto irá creciendo y evolucionando de forma orgánica, conformando su propia articulación del paisaje: recintos y tipologías específicas, arquitectura y escultura propias de su momento artístico, integración de la vegetación según los principios de botánica funeraria, etc., haciéndolos derivar, en ocasiones, hacia una inspiración romántica y evocadora, a modo de jardín melancólico. El cementerio también dejará patente el triunfo de la nueva burguesía liberal, que necesitará mostrar públicamente su poder económico y sus atributos de forma exuberante, pero también deberá
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responder, obligatoriamente, a las necesidades de otros sectores de población que padecen las consecuencias negativas del proceso de industrialización.
De forma paralela, el arte deberá ofrecer respuestas estéticas a dichas necesidades. Partiendo desde un Academicismo oficial, a partir de la segunda mitad del XIX, la tendencia a la acumulación decorativa y la relajación del canon neoclásico hacen derivar las construcciones hacia una concepción ecléctica, al mismo tiempo que el monumento funerario empieza a coexistir con la tipología de la capilla familiar. Este Eclecticismo derivará hacia las propuestas historicistas de fin de siglo: el Neogótico, el Neorrománico e incluso el Neoegipcio encontrarán acomodo en el arte funerario, pero siempre reinterpretados desde un punto de vista ecléctico. Finalmente, la llegada del siglo XX y del Modernismo supondrán una ruptura mayor respecto a las artes plásticas, anticipando la libertad creativa posterior, aunque habrá una tendencia a utilizar líneas más puras, desde el "Art Déco" hasta el Racionalismo y el Movimiento Postmoderno.
Finalmente, con esta comunicación hemos querido ofrecer un ejemplo de puesta en valor de un elemento patrimonial, contando con escasos recursos económicos pero sí con imaginación, buena voluntad y la colaboración imprescindible de la administración, en este el Ayuntamiento de Alcoi, así como también de la plantilla del
El objetivo principal ha sido establecer un paralelismo entre la “ciudad de los vivos” y la “ciudad de los muertos”. Así, condicionado por sus necesidades sociales e históricas, el recinto irá creciendo y evolucionando de forma orgánica, conformando su propia articulación del paisaje
Cementerio y de todas las personas que, visita tras visita, nos demuestran su interés en esta iniciativa. Con ella se ha dotado a la ciudad de un nuevo atractivo cultural y turístico, además de contribuir a la sensibilización y a la valoración de estos espacios más allá de su funcionalidad. Bibliografía •
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AA.VV. (1993). Una arquitectura para la muerte. Primer Encuentro Internacional sobre cementerios contemporáneos. Junta de Andalucía. Sevilla. ARIÈS, Phillippe (1983). El hombre ante la muerte. Taurus. Madrid. BARALLAT FALGUERA, Celestino (1984). Principios de Botánica Funeraria. Alta Fulla. Barcelona. BENEITO LLORIS, Ángel (2003). Condicions de vida i salut a Alcoi durant el procés d’industrialització. Universitat Politècnica de València. Alcoi. BENEYTO GÓMEZ, Elisa (2010). L’estètica de la mort: el Cementeri de Sant Antoni Abat d’Alcoi (1885-1936). Tesina para obtener el Diploma de Estudios Avanzados. Departamento de Historia del Arte, Universitat de València. BENEYTO GÓMEZ, Elisa y VIDAL PÉREZ, Lluís (2010, 25 de octubre). “Dos panteons oblidats al Cementeri d’Alcoi”. En: Ciudad de Alcoy. P. 22-23. Alcoi. — (2010, 1 de noviembre). “Panteons de Llorenç Ridaura”. En: Ciudad de Alcoy. P. 22-23.
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Alcoi. — (2011). “El Cementeri Vell d’Alcoi (1812-1885)”. En: Alcoy. Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, 2011. Asociación de San Jorge. Alcoi. — (2012). “La producció escultòrica funerària de Lorenzo Ridaura (I)”. En: Alcoy. Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, 2012. Asociación de San Jorge. Alcoi. — (2012). "Los cementerios como reflejo de la sociedad industrial. El cementerio de Alcoi". En: ÁLVAREZ ARECES, Miguel Ángel (Ed.). Patrimonio inmaterial e intangible de la industria. INCUNA. Gijón. — (2013). “La producció escultòrica funerària de Lorenzo Ridaura (i II)”. En: Alcoy. Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, 2013. Asociación de San Jorge. Alcoi. — (2014). “125 anys del projecte de Cantagallet”. En: Alcoy. Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, 2014. Asociación de San Jorge. Alcoi. QUIRÓS LINARES, Francisco (1990). El jardín melancólico. Los cementerios españoles en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Universidad de Oviedo. RUIZ JIMÉNEZ, Crispina (2001). "L'última residència: panteons de la primeria del segle XX". En: Revista Eines, 19. IES Pare Vitòria. Alcoi. SAGUAR QUER, Carlos (1989). Arquitectura funeraria madrileña del siglo XIX. Universidad Complutense. Madrid. SANTONJA CARDONA, Josep Lluís (1998). “La construcción
de cementerios extramuros: un aspecto de la lucha contra la mortalidad en el Antiguo Régimen”. En: Revista de Historia Moderna, 17. Universitat d’Alacant.
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Msc. Thiago Nicolau de Araújo PhD student in Theology and History from the Faculties EST / Freie Universität Berlin. CAPES
Graveyards as a source of preservation Historic-Cultural-Religious of the Tombs of immigrants German-Brazilians in Brazil: a comparative analysis
Scholarship. Advisor: Dr. Wilhelm Wachholz. Line of research by CNPq: Christianity and Religions in Latin America.
Abstract: This paper is part of the PhD thesis in which realize a study of the symbolic representations in the tombs of German immigrants in southern Brazil, as well as the maintenance of Germanness expressed through the epitaphs found in these tombs in order to compare the cultural expressions of identity that emphasize the Germanness and verify how the immigrant, especially those of Protestant confession, reaffirm the German memory of the dead, seeking to establish a parallel with the demonstrations of these expressions in their country of
21
origin, and also highlights the importance of preserve it as a heritage site. Keywords: Identities, Religious Boundaries, German Cemeteries, Ethnicity, Immigration.
Introduction: This article is part of a research PhD entitled Cemeteries as a source of Historical-Cultural-Religious preserving the tombs of centers German-Brazilians in Rio Grande do Sul (1824-1914) held in
conjunction with the Faculties EST in Brazil and the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Free University of Berlin.
We divide the research in the following steps - contextualization of the research, analyzing the cemeteries in two historical periods: 1824-1889, a period that includes the Brazilian Empire and its relationship with the main migratory waves of Germans in Rio Grande do Sul; 1889-1914, early republic and its relationship with the Great War. What this article will be restricted to the first step, making a clipping in the element that indicates the concern of German immigrant in maintaining the cultural traits of the country of origin.
Considering the chronological marker, we demonstrate the sources of artistic, social, cultural and ideological information contained in cemeteries, to identify and define the specific characteristics of the tombs, revealing the preservation expressed in symbols and epitaphs Germanic cultural identity, seeking to identify the imaginary social, religious sentiment expressed through the profession of the Catholic and Lutheran. 2
Through field research3 conducted in the cemeteries of the regions that received the first waves of German immigrants in the RS 3, we found that the way groups of German immigrants was expressed in the tombs the concern in maintaining cultural traits of the country of origin are very
characteristic, with symbolic elements themselves, as well as highlighting their Germanic features.
In this article we will reduce sampling qualitatively, showing the graves that reveal the maintenance of Kultur4. The selection criterion indicates the most symbolic elements found on the tombstones.
The comparative process will be with one cemetery located in the city of Schwerin, location from where much of Germans who colonized regions analyzed in southern Brazil, respecting the chronological cut. The images of the gravestones of Brazil will be arranged throughout the text. In the end, will be including images of tombstones in Germany for comparison (all photographs were taken by the author). 1. Cemeteries, Identity
Memory
and
By studying the German cemeteries of Rio Grande do Sul have tried to question the place reserved for the dead and think about the multiple perspectives that make living on this space as the transmission of cultures as well as their views on the representations of death reflects ways of thinking and acting. We realized different ways societies express the feeling about death, but always keeping the idea of preserving the memory of the dead by the image in an attempt to keep alive their identity. Just as there is a need to keep alive the identity of the dead, there is
also the need to preserve the cultural identity of a society at a given period of time.
The concept of identity is defined especially in anthropology, according to which the construction of identity is driven by the need to be part of a group, creating a sense of belonging. This would be a sentiment underpinned by the difference: you see you differently as you relates with each other. As Brand達o enlightens us:
[...] Identities are representations inevitably marked by the confrontation with the other, have to be in touch, being bound to oppose, to dominate or be dominated, becoming more or less free, power or not build on their own their world of symbols and, inside, those who qualify identify the person, group, minority, race, people. Identities are more than this, not just the product of the inevitable opposition by contrast, but the social recognition of difference itself (Brand達o, 1986: 42-43).
The human being when confronted with the finiteness of life, reacts basically in two ways: with the denial or acceptance of earthly death (Steyer, 2000: 74.). The most common reaction is denial of the fact, by which the family of the deceased expressed his feelings of revulsion at the end of life through inscriptions, photographs and objects placed in tombs reminiscent of the earthly life. The acceptance of earthly death appears through demonstrations of
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faith and homage and salutations to life of the deceased.
Thus, the tombs express an idea or concept in the world of the living on the dead. In this sense, too, they can be considered as objects that represent the cultural identity of a particular region at a particular time, under particular point of view or the public. The cemetery is above all a form of preservation of private and collective memory of the people of a region. All graves are erected exactly a way to preserve this memory.
The analysis of the collective cultural representations led to the diversification of sources, as the iconographic elements have an importance as great as the formal speech, as Vovelle says: "In some ways, the question about the popular led to the diversification of resources thereby questioning the primacy of written and valuing other sources, such as oral document and iconography. "(1997: 17). 2. Germanness Graveyards
and
While in the German territories in Europe, of the early nineteenth century, health and urban infrastructure policies lead to the cemeteries outside the limits of cities. In the German colonies of southern Brazil, the cemeteries are established next to churches in the central part of colonial settlements. In some localities, cemeteries were later moved out of the central part;
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in others, the cemetery beside the church remains active.
A large part of the cemeteries of the German communities were built near the area of social integration, next to the chapel and school, and in some cases it was also included in the conglomerate at trading house (sale) of the locality (Blume, 2010: 67). The arrival of German immigrants to southern Brazil, from various parts of what would become Germany, brought with it a series of mergers and cultural changes throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. German immigrants had to improvise and adapt their rites and customs to new realities (Blume, 2010: 15).
The German community had a special concern to preserve its Germanic characteristics, seeking to strengthen their German identity amid the new land, through the expression of characteristic elements, such as the name of the commercial establishments, which carry the family name or the name in German as for example, we found several "Blumenhaus" (House of Flowers) instead of flower shops in the various clubs of singing and shooting, scattered through the towns belonging to the nucleus of German immigration, which until the 30s demanded that its members dominate the German language. (Rigo, 2003: 44) Within this perspective maintenance of Kultur, we find
of
A large part of the cemeteries of the German communities were built near the area of social integration, next to the chapel and school
expressions of Germanness expressed in epitaphs, where the grave has inscriptions in German (language), and indications of origin and place of birth of the deceased (regions of Germany). Germanism according Gertz (1991: 38) propagating the idea of preserving the cultural aspects of Germany brought by immigrants. In this sense, the preservation of the heritage language was a primary factor, which was not only observed between the space of the living, but also in the cemeteries.
In this sense, the epitaph is a way to set the German-Brazilian identity, making a romantic and nostalgic reconstruction of his past, often in disregarding the real reasons that led them to leave their homeland to seek a new life in a land totally unknown.
This kind of nostalgia makes the immigrant rebuild their identity upon ideals forged by himself, by writing the epitaph written in the mother tongue, often written in Gothic lettering, highlighting the place of birth in Germany.
In the cemeteries of German immigrants, there is a strong attachment to the preservation of cultural identity expressed in epitaphs, which are often written in the language of origin and point out the place of birth of the deceased.
According Seyferth (1994: 15) German immigrants sought to keep preserved the use of the German language and customs through the intensity of social life expressed by many associations that have taken
strong ethnic character (how societies shooting and gymnastics ). The language, being "as both a social and intituição a system of values", making the language an element of mutual respect through individuals of the same community (Barthes, 1971: p.17).
This is an example (Picture 1) of the tombs found in the cities of German colonization (TrĂŞs Coroas/RS) The tomb epitaph:
has
the
following
Gently rest Catharina Scherer born Grub, born on the twentyninth day of September, 1809 in Bodenbach the "Kingdom of Bavaria." Died on the sixth day of November 1879 [in the] Cologne of Conventos. Leaves Bereaved 10 children, 86 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. 6
This inscription refers to the importance of emphasizing that the birthplace was in itself "German Kingdom" and that his place of death was in the colony of Conventos, village inside the city of Lajeado. The body was to pick up the location where other relatives are buried. Interesting to note that as the inscription on the grave, also inscriptions in the temple are evoked as memory about the "origin". Upon completion of the construction of many Protestant churches, especially in the nineteenth century, put it a
Picture 1
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Picture 2
"German cock" on the tip of the tower. According to the settlers, as it was in the old country, so we also wanted to be so in the new homeland (AEDB, 1866: 11).
Therefore, in the cemetery and in the temple, old and new homelands are related.
Faced with the threat from "outside" was essential to preserve the collective identity in social memory. An example of preservation of the memory may be verified by sacred architecture, i.e. the construction of temples. The temple, among other things, is a form of registration and preservation of German culture. In this sense, it is the observation that the pastor Dietschi in the mid 1880s, he mentions that "our temples are a strong castle for Germanness in strange country, and that each must perform with joy, for it lies the pledge of allegiance ,
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Picture 3
diligence, gratitude and belonging to the motherland. "(Dietschi, 1886: 38)
Le Goff argues that the "archives of stone" they added the function files themselves in character insistent advertising, focusing on ostentation and durability of this polish marble memory. "(Le Goff, 1994: 432). Protestants sought to perpetuate the memory through "archives of stone", ie, the temples.
While temples of wood, characteristic of the first decades of Protestants presence in Brazil, had not long life, the construction of the temple of "rock" shows concern for the "lasting legacy" of a solid faith to be witnessed for future generations (Unser Jahresfest, 1893: 75). This concern was extended to cemeteries, replacing the wooden cross carved on the tombstone stone, since investments in good quality tombstones were
inaccessible to most, the economic reality in the early days of "Picadas" (the name given to the villages of colonists ) did not prioritize these aspects, either by lack of resources but also of skilled labor.
One of the ways that the German immigrant found to preserve Germanness was through religious institutions. The cult was of great importance to the immigrant, as was done in his native tongue, which was reinforced German cultural unity. The German immigrant also expressed through symbols of Christian religious faith and made sculptural elements that indicate the representations of Christianity such as the cross, the palm branch, the anchor, among others. This is an example (Picture 2) of the tombs with Christian symbols (the Sinos River Valley).
A characteristic of the German cemeteries of communities is the tendency to bury their dead in the ground tombstones. There are few chapels and mausoleums, which was not only observed in the cemetery of large urban centers, but also in the cemeteries of the German-Brazilian communities in the metropolitan area and rural area. This feature is observed both in the cemeteries of the Lutheran confession as in Catholic cemeteries. This is an example (Picture 3) of the tombs directly on the ground (the Capital – Porto Alegre City).
The 3 images in picture 4 are representative of the cemetery of Schwerin. We can see all characteristics above nominated in this graves situated in city of origin of German immigrates in Rio
Grande do Sul.
Final Considerations: Preserving the memory of the dead strengthens the affirmation of cultural identity, which according to Le Goff (1994: 476) memory is an essential element of what is called identity, individual or collective, whose quest is one of the fundamental activities of individuals and societies today. It also states that in certain cases, is associated with the memory of the dead of the society in which it appears, around the common memory. Thus, the cemetery becomes a rich source of elements that witness, report and contribute to build the context of particular societies, contextualized in a space-time. The images and writings represented in
the cemeteries are a reflection of collective representations on the different social, cultural and political manifestations of the living world. This idea is confirmed by Fernando Catroga:
To play its part, the cemeteries scenario had to be dominantly symbolic. However, this verification has to be interpreted with caution. Is that in this plot, the metaphysical function is closely bonded to their social implications (...). (Catroga, 1999: 112)
Therefore, we can define the memory built in the present, from demands given by this and not necessarily for the past itself can be thought of as essential for building social affiliations, at various levels associative factor. In a way, the pursuit of control over memory
Picture 4
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establishing an identity for the social worker involved in it. Thus the cemetery becomes a maintenance agent of memories that build a cultural identity. When we preserve cemeteries, maintain up the cultural identity of a people, their livelihoods and all their creations and manifestations, creating a deeper concept, that of citizenship, which explains the feeling of belonging to a group, community, people or nation.
We conclude, as Bellomo says, "the cemeteries are one of the richest and written sources unwritten that the historian has to sue to have to know a region." (Bellomo, 2000:p. 18). Referencies:
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ARAÚJO, Thiago Nicolau de. 2008. Túmulos Celebrativos de Porto Alegre: Múltiplos Olhares sobre o Espaço Cemiterial (1889 - 1930). 1. ed. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. BARTHES, Roland. 1971. Elementos de Semiologia. Cultrix: SP. BELLOMO, Harry R.(org.), 2000. Cemitérios do Rio Grande do Sul: arte, sociedade, ideologia. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCS. BLUME, Sandro. 2010. Morte e Morrer nas colônias alemãs do Rio Grande do Sul: recortes do cotidiano. Unisinos: São Leopoldo. Dissertação de Mestrado. BRANDÃO, Carlos Rodrigues. 1986. Identidade e Etnia: construção da pessoa e
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resistência cultural. São Paulo: Brasiliense. CATROGA, Fernando. 1999. O Céu da Memória – Cemitério romântico e culto cívico dos mortos em Portugal (17561911). Coimbra: Livraria Minerva Editora. DIE ARBEIT UNTER DEN EVANGELISCHEN DEUTSCHEN IN BRASILIEN. 1866. Zweite Mittheilung des Comité’s für die protestantischen Deutschen in Südbrasilien. Barmen: J. F. Steinhaus. (AEDB, 1866). DIETSCHI, J. R. 1886. Gedanken bei einem Kirchweihfest im brasilianischen Urwald. Der Deutsche Ansiedler, Barmen. GERTZ, René. O Perigo Alemão. Porto Alegre: Editora da Universidade-UFRGS, 1991. LE GOFF, Jacques. 1994. História e Memória. Campinas: Editora da UNICAMP, 1994. RIGO, Kate Fabiani. 2003. Maristas Franceses em Redutos Alemães: Reação Germanista frente à Pedagogia Francesa aplicada pelos irmãos no RS. Porto Alegre: PUCRS. Dissertação de Mestrado. SEYFERTH, Giralda. A identidade teuto-brasileira numa perspectiva histórica. In: NAUCH, Cláudia e VASCONCELOS, Naira (orgs). Os alemães no sul do Brasil; cultura, etnicidade, história. Canoas: Ed. Ulbra, 1994. STEYER, Fábio Augusto. 2000. Representações e Manifestações Antropológicas da Morte em Alguns Cemitérios do Rio Grande do Sul. In: In: BELLOMO, Harry
When we preserve cemeteries, maintain up the cultural identity of a people, their livelihoods and all their creations and manifestations, creating a deeper concept, that of citizenship, which explains the feeling of belonging to a group, community, people or nation.
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R.(org.) Cemitérios do Rio Grande do Sul: arte, sociedade, ideologia. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCS. UNSER JAHRESFEST. 1893. Der Deutsche Ansiedler. Organ der Evangelischen Gesellschaft für die protestantischen Deutschen in Amerika), Barmen: D. B. Wiemann, [Vaterland e Westdeutsche]. VOVELLE, Michel. 1997. Imagens e Imaginário na História: fantasmas e incertezas nas mentalidades desde a Idade Média até o século XX. São Paulo: Ática.
Footnotes:
We start from the idea that the graves can demonstrate social, cultural, religious and ideological sources of artistic information contained in cemeteries, in order to analyze the construction of one or more cultural identities. Thereby delimit the analysis to the tombs of celebrative character they represent quantitatively these aspects already mentioned. Already chronological marker (1824-1889) refers to the most intense period of German immigration in southern Brazil during the Empire period in the country. 2 Photographic survey conducted by the author in the period of four years, between the years 20082012. 3 The capital (Porto Alegre) the Sinos River Valley and the Valley of Paranhama river (in this case, selecting the cities of São Leopoldo, Novo Hamburgo, Três Coroas and Parobé) 4 According to Norbert Elias, the 1
German concept of Kultur basically alludes to the intellectual, artistic and religious events. Represents the value that the person has in virtue of its mere existence and conduct, which is the word that more than any other expressed their pride in their own achievements and be himself. Refers to human products, such as works of art, books, religious or philosophical systems, in which it expressed the individuality of a people. The concept of Kultur reflects the consciousness of itself a nation that had to seek and constitute incessant and again its borders, both political and spiritual, and repeatedly ask herself: "What is really our identity?" So the idea of identity for the German people is inherently private, since the construction of it is based in historicism in its historical and cultural trajectory, like the several questions they did over time: what was to be English? What was to be French? And especially what was being German? Thus, the German can be born anywhere in the world he will always be a German. 5 Freely translated by Dr. Wilhelm Wachholz.
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Christian Attard University of Malta / School of Art Malta
Why have we forgotten? Memorials of oblivion in the First Cemetery of Athens
Abstract: Angelo Alberici, the Italian Consul in Malta, died on June 30, 1884. He was just 45 years old and had only been one year in office. He left a wife and a young daughter whose likeness, fashioned in clay, was to be immortalised in a Realist funerary monument very possibly made by the Italian sculptor, Filippo Antonio Cifariello. The sculptor was still a young, hardly known artist at the time, but just a few years later he was to murder his wife - a chanteuse - in a fit of jealousy. The ensuing court case and its outcome were to deeply polarise opinions in turn-ofthe century Italy.
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Keywords: Consul; Filippo
Antonio Cifariello; Widows' weeds; Mourning; Malta; Addolorata Cemetery. On Monday morning, June 30, 1884, the Italian Consul in Malta, Cav. Angelo Alberici, passed away, succumbing to a drawn out illness ribelle alla scienza medicai, as one journalist had curiously put it (In:Portafoglio Maltese, 3, 3 July 1884, Malta). The 45-year old lawyer from Modena died in his home at No.60, Strada Vescovo, Valletta, comforted by the sacrament of Extreme Unction and the loving presence of his wife Agnese and their young daughter.
A heartfelt poem, written in Italian by one Roberto Palmieri (In:Malta, p.3, 3 July 1884, Malta), and a couple of newspaper articles published in the wake of Alberici’s untimely death, shed some light on this long forgotten personality. Authors describe him as a man of wit and culture, very skilful in his work, gentle and with a heart of gold. Typical of a man of his standing he sported a distinctive moustache and a beard.
The elaborate exequies carried out in his honour and remembrance the day after his death attest to the popularity that Alberici, only one year in his office, (In:Malta, p.2, 2 July 1884, Malta) had entertained among the Maltese. The social elite participated in his stately funeral, marching along the open coffin which held his earthly remains. Doctors, lawyers, Consuls and a representative of the Governor, along with a touching gathering of Maltese mourners, paid their last tributes to the man.
In Malta, at the time, the language question was all the rage and it had played a vital role in the recently concluded electoral campaign won by the antiriformisti who, with all their might, had set out to fight the Anglicization of Malta (Laferla, 1977:30). All the mudslinging and inevitable lobbying wielded during the campaign had somewhat put Alberici in the fray. There was talk of an Italian authority sowing irredentist ideas amongst the populace. Things continued to take a turn for the worse when the Italian Foreign Secretary urged her Majesty’s Government to make
public any suspicions against any one of the Italian Consular officials. No fingers were pointed but worry and apprehension must have taken their toll upon Alberici’s precarious health. When, on June 13, Sir J.A.Lintorn Simmons was appointed Governor of Malta, our Consul immediately paid him a formal visit to stress his total impartiality in local politics. Alas, this turned out to be one of his very last official engagements. Some two weeks later, Angelo Alberici passed away.
Alberici was buried at the new Addolorata Cemetery at Tal-Ħorr. The burial site selected must have been only temporary since the actual twin burial plots that still house Alberici’s remains were only bought some three months laterii. At some stage, a funerary monument was erected over the burial plots, thus sealing them for good; the Consul remaining the sole tenant of this final abode. And yet, his loving kin are there beside him, not in body, but fashioned in artificial stone by some very clever artist. The widow and her young daughter still kneel in perpetual mourning, their features visibly distraught, their hands clutched in supplication. But time, has inevitably struck his cruel scythe, and the mourners themselves are nowadays mere ghosts of their former selves. They stoically try to keep themselves elegant; Agnese wearing a tight fitting bodice with a reticent high neckline, her hair neatly drawn up and back. Perhaps in an attempt at non ostentation, she does not wear the full regalia of
The widow and her young daughter still kneel in perpetual mourning, their features visibly distraught, their hands clutched in supplication. But time, has inevitably struck his cruel scythe, and the mourners themselves are nowadays mere ghosts of their former selves.
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a typically Victorian black widow’s weeds.
However, with each passing year this fixation with dress and social standing is proving to be more and more difficult to maintain. Mother and daughter mourn and pray as they relentlessly turn to dust, crumbling to pieces as they wait for some salvation that never comes. They still keep, as a memento, a touching oval portrait of their departed loved one – the one true recipient of their affection and gratitude.
This is a realist take on the subject where the figures depicted are not symbols in disguise but the actual wife and daughter of the deceased in mourning
This type of monument, depicting the widow in mourning, was a recent idea in funerary art. This is not a personification of Grief or Meditation, as was typical of Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and many of his followers. This is a realist take on the subject where the figures depicted are not symbols in disguise but the actual wife and daughter of the deceased in mourning. The introduction of a mourning child, once again a relatively modern addition to funerary iconography, adds to the palpable sense of grief. It had become customary amongst Italian sculptors of the period to excel in tactile effects, skillfully yielding out of marble or other materials the texture of lace, embroidery and silk as was demanded by their commissioners.
People of social standing wanted themselves to be immortalised in an appropriate monument wearing the latest in mourning dress and
related accessories. In the Cimiterio di Staglieno in Genoa, this fixation with mourning fashion had reached such a ridiculous level that a published article openly disapproved of such practices arguing that marble monuments are intended to last forever and, thus, should be free from the exigencies of fashion which is, by its very nature, temporary (Berresford, 2004: 154-156). In a way this monument has become a veritable symbol of ubiquitous death – a memento mori. The work of art created to immortalise the Consul and his family, to conquer time so to speak, has surrendered itself to the irrevocable march of death and decay. Proof, if ever there was any need, that, try as we might, death will eventually overcome.
Yet, this is not the end of our yarn. As stories usually do, it is entwined with another. Who had created this monument?
Answering this question may perhaps help us to understand better the monument’s deftly pictorial and tactile qualities; we may perhaps empathise with its two characters whose contained grief is so sensitively human. Its implicit realism and fresh handling of material impart a strongly Sicilian or southern Italian flavour and character, qualities found in the likes of Vincenzo Gemito (18521929), Ettore Ximenes (18551926) and Achille d’Orsi (18451929) (Berresford, 2004:59).
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According to an oral tradition the work was made by Filippo Antonio Cifariello (1864-1936) (Borg, 2001:148), an artist from Molfetta whose basic training was carried out in Naples and Rome but furthered in Paris. In Naples he was indeed a student of Achille d’Orsi (Comanducci:1970). Cifariello was an unforgettable personality; with his bohemian beard and thick brown hair, the weight of his presence was truly magnetic. His talents and dreamy romantic looks should have been the perfect foil for a successful career. Regrettably, however, love played a tragic role in his near, fatal, downfall. The fateful day was August 10, 1905. For twelve years Cifariello had been married to, and madly in love with, a beautiful chanteuse called Maria de Browne. Theirs was a stormy relationship, passionate and obsessive, at all times tottering
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on the brink of desperation. The real and perceived unfaithful flings of the popular chanteuse were steadily eating into the madly suspicious sculptor. Something had to give. Early in the morning of that ominous day, in a small hotel in Posillipo, after yet another terrible row, Cifariello killed his wife, shooting her five times (Ferrante:2003-4).
It brought Cifariello instant notoriety. His terrible crime was discussed high and low, it fuelled small talk, and it even inspired a referendum in the Giornale d’Italia. Public opinion, for awfully strange reasons, was largely partial to the sculptor. Three dubious rights were cited in his favour, namely, the right of husband, the right of the artist and the right of genius. In 1908, in a Court in Naples, Cifariello was declared innocent; he was considered simply a victim of his
unscrupulous, adulterous wife! She was the only culprit in this sad turn of events (Ansaldo, 1949:191-2).
‘I am a man of a thousand faces’, declared Cifariello at some point during his hearing (Ansaldo, 1949:191-2). And indeed he was. Reading through the court documents, a very complex, perhaps disturbed, man emerges; proud to the point of arrogance, narcissistic, but otherwise of a weak and fragile mental disposition (Marazzita:1967). This could well have been the man who had modelled Addolorata’s evocative monument. The work has all the stylistic qualities synonymous with the brand of realism into which Cifariello was bred; the depiction of real portraits and contemporary dress, a sensitive touch to human emotions, and a spontaneity and freshness in
the modelling, leaving a measured coarseness to the surfaces with the occasional thumbprint showing. In other words, Cifariello was very much in line with, perhaps even a pioneer of, the trends that started off in southern Italy, but took hold of the entire Italian peninsula, in the aftermath of the Risorgimento.
Filippo Antonio Cifariello was to pursue a successful career soon after his acquittal. He carried out a series of public monuments in a number of Italian towns in the Calabria and Abruzzo regions, all dedicated to heroes and protagonists of Italy’s recent history; the monument to King Umberto I in Bari, (helped by his protégé, also from Molfetta, Giulio Cozzoli), the monument to the War Heroes of the First World War in Castelsilano, and the monument to Gabriele Rossetti in Vasto. Rossetti, a poet, father of the pre-Rapahelite artist Dante Gabriele Rossetti and a staunch supporter of Italian nationalism, lived in Malta for some three years in the early 1820s after being exiled from his homeland. Apart from all the stories, rumours and gossip unearthed by the Alberici monument, it is the work itself that deserves to be better known and protected. Within a Maltese art historical context it is one of the few three-dimensional works that wholeheartedly explores a realist aesthetic. It is, after all, a beautiful memento of a man whose last few months, fraught with the difficulties of office and illness, were spent in Malta. It is all the more unpardonable for the Maltese to leave the work is
such a deplorable state. Footnotes:
i which defies all medical knowledge ii information kindly given to me by the Administrative officials at the Addolorata Cemetery Office, January 24 2007
Within a Maltese art historical context it is one of the few threedimensional works that wholeheartedly explores a realist aesthetic. It is, after all, a beautiful memento of a man whose last few months were spent in Malta.
Bibliography: •
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•
•
•
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Ansaldo, Giovanni, 1949, Il Ministero della Buonavita, Longanesi, Milano. Berresford, Sandra, 2004, Italian Memorial Sculpture A Legacy of Love, UK. Borg, Mario, 2001, Unpublished M.A thesis, The Artistic Relevance of the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery University of Malta. Comanducci A.M, 1970, Dizzionario Illustrato dei pittori, disegnatori, e incisori Italiani moderni e contemporanei, Milano. Ferrante, Antonietta, 2003-4, Filippo Cifariello:Storia di un Assassino, Unpublished thesis presented to the Universita’ degli Studi di Salerno. Laferla, A.V., 1977, British Malta, Malta. Marazzita Nino, Cento Anni fa’ a Posillipo, Eloquenza, MarzoAprile 1967.
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PhD. Arch. Andreea Pop Spiru Haret University, School of Architecture
Funeral Monuments on Paper. The Project as Part of Heritage
Abstract: The paper intend to offer an overview of some elements in designing a funeral monument, not necessarily from technical perspective. This time we tried to decode some details that lead the conception of a funeral monument, the way we could use this knowledge to increase the value we are preserving and the importance of this information, both for the public and the specialists. Keywords: Monument, Project, Architect, Funeral heritage. When we discuss about funeral heritage, we split the speech involuntary in two different and independent parts. On one side,
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there is the cemetery as an assembly, with his own history, design and evolution. On the other side is the individual funeral monument, of all kind of sizes, shapes and materials.
If we refer to the first, we discover that we owe to their epoch, the current image of historic cemeteries, those which now we admire and try to protect and preserve. That evoked epoch used another measuring unit for beautiful, balanced, proportional, decorated, commemorated. The first architects and artists of the modern cemeteries did not have many models, but they imagined and created them. The influence of former burial sites –churchyards– combined with landscaping of
gardens and parks are found in many general planning attempts in order to develope a cemetery. They sought both efficiency and dignity at the same time. For a society terrified of estranging their deads out of the city, the proposed image had to be one able to balance the loss of the proximity and neighborhood of the religious building. Sometimes the land helped through it’s picturesque location and view. Such a terrain eased considerably the work of those designing the whole plan. Other times, quite often, the cemetery received a land deprived of qualities, according to the place of the function it sheltered in society’s perception. However, the design of the cemetery assemblies –with a rich literature among authors1 who
have studied this area– constitute another issue that will not be dealt with on this occasion. History of the emergence of the modern cemetery, plan typology, architectural competitions held for these assemblies are interesting subjects for study and deciphering the evolution of this architectural program.
On the other hand, the individual funeral object was differently aproached. If we refer to the architectural project, first we should discover the models and the mechanism of design.
Despite the new premises of the burial sites and the changes in thinking and in behavior of the society, the models for the funeral monuments were well known, spread throughout the history of architecture from the most ancient
times till the birth of modern cemeteries. Architects and artists had found inspiration in everything that was used over time until then: pillar, column, obelisk, statue or group of statues, cross, slab, altar, aedicula, crypt, pyramid, hypogeum tomb, chapel, mausoleum, etc.
As a city of the living goes through the passing time and pays tribute to each age and artistic style, the cemetery concentrates time and brings most of architectural and artistic history together. If a city needed several centuries to shape a diverse image, modified and carved by repeated selections or radical gesture, for the cemetery this has happened in a much shorter time as a summary of the history of civilization. So, in our historical cemeteries we can find pyramids, tholos, chapels, mausoleums designed and adjusted through
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interpretation architects.
by
contemporary
Regarding the mechanism of design, a relevant example we find in the teachings of proffesor Julien Guadet from L’École Nationale et Spéciale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in the second half of the 19th century, who lectured his students about planning and building funeral edifices: “Vous devrez certainement vous inspirer de la personnalité du mort; le tombeau d'un militaire ne sera pas celui d'un poète, encore moins celui d'un enfant. Mais n'oubliez pas que, dans le terrain toujours très minime dont vous disposerez, la concision est la première des qualités: l'écueil est de vouloir trop dire. Puis, n’oubliez pas non plus que vous travaillez pour le plein air, et que dans un cimetière les causes de dégradations sont multiple. Sachez donc résister a la tentation de vous inspirer de séduisants exemples, empruntes a des intérieur. […] Les matériaux devraient toujours être du choix le plus résistant, les granits, les bronzes. […] En général, on veut toujours mettre trop de choses, trop de motifs, trop de figures, trop d'ornements, trop d'inscriptions. Pensez donc que souvent — le plus souvent — vous n'aurez que deux mètres carrés à votre disposition, et croyez bien que vous n'atteindrez à un effet que par la sobriété.’’ 2
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Well, how many generations of architects have listened, have interpreted and implemented his teachings? In Romania, most of the architects who set up the School of Architecture were professor Guadet’s students. They brought this occidental knowlegde to Oriental Europe and gave the tone for funeral architecture in Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest. These artists and architects, together with high density of social, cultural, artistic and historical elite make this cemetery from Bucharest as Significant as any other in Europe.
In designing a funeral monument we meet some specific issues. Most of them are exposed in professor Guadet’s words, both tehnical and conceptual meanings. The narrow space filled with symbols which has to remain sobre, but also to reflect the personality of the dead is difficult enough for such a small building. If we add the quality of the materials and their diversity – bricks and concrete, stone, metal, glass - gathered in a few square meters it became a real challange for the arhitect. In addition to these ideas I would dare to draw attention on the matter of chosing the design. For funeral monuments, much more than for other buildings, happens that the beneficiary is not the same with the client. Just a few people succeded to order and to prepare their burial place during their life. So, in many cases the descendants are responsable for the final image of the monument. In this case could we identify the monument with the person who is buried there?
As a city of the living goes through the passing time and pays tribute to each age and artistic style, the cemetery concentrates time and brings most of architectural and artistic history together
Probably it should remain somewhere in our memory when the image is characteristic for the dead one and when it’s a successors’ will.
There is a third situation, even more curious and also frequently met, of the case of changing the original image of the monument with different ocasions (comemorations, rememberings, centenary etc.) Because of its’ size, any changes from the original image made for a funeral monument are more visible than in any other building.
So, we are dealing with a second project for the same monument reflecting the way the personality of the dead one survived through colective memory after decades. Many times in this situation the artist and those who initiate the project are not at all related to the character or to his era.
The most dangerous situation met during research is the changing of the owners for a funeral monument. From small interventions to totally destroing the building, it is almost imposible to keep the original image intact. This time the project, some photos or films remain the only evidence we have about the original. When we refer strictly to the project, to the drawings on paper, very often it is a piece of art, better said of graphics, clasified some times as heritage itself. Despite other projects, for funeral building we fiind often drawings detailed to 1:1 scale.
Most of constructive elements and decorations are drawn to the last detail and – due to the building dimensions - all this details can be contained in the main drawing and presented as a whole. The notations on the sheet, describing materials, annotations made by the author are as important as in all the other old architectural project. Also, as a particularity for funeral projects we mention the use of writing as a decorative element. Type of letters were designed to harmonize the whole and – very important – to be reproduced in all kind of materials (ferquently stone and metal).
The entire perception of the monument is completed when we become acquaintaned to the design that stands as base. And since we refer to the funeral domain, it should be noted that in general, most part of the monument is under ground. Another aspect not to be neglected is the inside of a monument, whether below or above ground.
The interior decorations are also part of the whole, part of the heritage, but unfortunately, many times we can enjoy only the outside. Unlike a non-funeral monument, access to the interior of the memorial is more difficult, being an intimate area for the family. The interior of a mausoleum or a chapel is often as valuable as the outside. There can be rich decorations, mural paintings, mosaics, not to mention sculptures of all kinds –busts, sarcophagi, lamps, chandeliers–. Like a private collection, the works inside a
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funeral monument complete the creation of an artist or architect. There are of course cases where, aware of the futility of the act of excessive decoration of an area hidden from view, the beneficiaries have chosen an austere interior.
interventions through its existence, the modifications between the project and the monument itself, are some of the advantages of knowing the original project.
I would dare to say that, when it exists, the project is the first phisycal shape of a monument. Therefore, attaching it back to monument to complete the story is a normal and welcome gesture. The consistency of tehnical elements which could help the restoration, the changes made by different
After two World Wars and – for Eastern Europe – also half a century of communism, the whole consists of crumbs and fragments. The project is one of them. The complete stories are rare and valuable. Sometimes we may have only the monument, without any original project, other times, all it's
In conclusion, knowing the project of o monument – funeral or not – is like having the birth certificate of a building. Overall, the project adds knowledge and value when we consider the built heritage and also may be a heritage object in itself.
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This far, it is only a theoretical approach, a way to draw attention to some ideas borned during research. Different ways of draw value from the project are already used for public through albums, virtual media presentations, post cards, or as specialists, in their restoration and research work.
left are some drawings, without knowing the actual location of the monument or if it ever existed. Footnotes:
I may remember here 1 Robert Auzelle, James Stevens Curl, Adriana Arena, Laura Bertolaccini, Mauro Felicori among many others who wrote interesting studies about monumental cemeteries of Europe, their appearance and evolution. 2 Julien Guadet, Éléments et Théorie de L’Architecture, cours professé a L’École Nationale et Spéciale des Beaux-Arts, Librairie de la Construction Modérne, Paris, 1901, Livre I - Éléments de la Composition dans Les Édifices Funerarires, Commémoratifs, Décoratifs, p. 60-61.
Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Linares Oficina de Turismo. C/ Iglesia, nº 5. 23700 Linares (Jaén)
La historia de Linares a través de las lápidas: los cementerios inglés y de San José
Abstract: We could not understand the rise of English cemetery and the catholic cemetery of “St. Joseph” regardless of the Second Industrial Revolution and its effects for Linares and its region. The burials made in both cemeteries, show more than a curious chronological sequence of burials: social relationships between locals and immigrants, incursion of Protestantism in our latitudes, socio-cultural consequences of the mining boom experienced by Linares since the mid-nineteenth century, the decline of the extractive industry because of the lead fluctuations in
the market and the different war events that turn our recent history bloody. Resumen: No podríamos entender el surgimiento de los cementerios inglés y de San José sin tener en cuenta la Segunda Revolución Industrial ni sus efectos para Linares y su comarca. Los enterramientos que se van efectuando en ambos cementerios, denotan algo más que una curiosa sucesión cronológica de inhumaciones: relaciones sociales entre población local e inmigrados, incursión del protestantismo en nuestras latitudes, consecuencias
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socioculturales derivadas del boom minero experimentado por Linares desde mediados del siglo XIX, así como la decadencia del sector extractivo con motivo de las fluctuaciones del plomo en el mercado y de los acontecimientos bélicos que empañaron en sangre nuestra historia reciente. Keywords: Mining, Industrial Revolution, Immigration, Cemeteries, Protestantism.
La tradición funeraria de Linares La tradición cristiana de la Villa de Linares queda perfectamente reflejada en los enterramientos aparecidos en la Lonja de nuestra Iglesia parroquial, Santa María la Mayor, a diferencia de los cementerios romanos y musulmanes, cuyas inhumaciones se localizaban a extrarradio de los núcleos poblacionales. Este hecho generaría, consecuentemente, toda una problemática de tipo higiénicosanitario no sólo exclusiva de Linares; pues no son pocos los informes médicos realizados por técnicos adjuntos a la monarquía ilustrada y reformista de la España borbónica advirtiendo de tan alarmante situación. Factor este que propició la elaboración, desde el último tercio del siglo XVIII, de todo un corpus legal en aras de paliar las nefastas consecuencias de esta antiquísima práctica, instando a las autoridades locales al traslado de los campos santos fuera de las
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urbes. No obstante, cabe también la posibilidad de que este fenómeno se debiese al proceso de laicización tan característico del reformismo ilustrado.
El Ranal, es primer cementerio de titularidad pública, al menos como hoy día lo entendemos, se edificó en 1836 con motivo del incremento demográfico experimentado por Linares en el primer tercio del siglo XIX. A día de hoy, los vestigios de este camposanto forman parte de las instalaciones deportivas gestionadas por la institución educativa Sagrada Familia (SAFA). El nuevo clima político que se viene perfilando en la España de Isabel II tendrá un claro reflejo en la liberalización de las explotaciones mineras que, de forma irremediable, facilitará la penetración del capital foráneo, sobre todo de origen británico. Ello, sin duda alguna, contribuirá al aumento demográfico de la Villa que, aunque tímido todavía, obligará al Ayuntamiento a adoptar toda una serie de medidas con las que atajar el incontrolado a la vez que desordenado crecimiento poblacional acaecido a raíz de la inmigración interna.
Todo lo comentado anteriormente nos sirve para entender el contexto en el cual se edificó el “nuevo” cementerio amparado por la Ley Orgánica de Sanidad del Bienio progresista (1855), otro de los logros de los liberales en esta época tras la creación, en la década moderada de la Dirección General de Sanidad en 1847. Este nuevo espacio, concebido también para
albergar nichos con los que satisfacer de forma más eficiente las necesidades públicas de la Villa, distaría del núcleo urbano un kilómetro aproximadamente. La presencia británica y extranjera en Linares: la importancia del desarrollo minero-metalúrgico
Ya desde la época de Fernando VII, puede hablarse de una tímida flexibilización legal que faculta la libre explotación de minas, tales como los decretos de 1817 y de 1825, permitiendo, de este modo, el laboreo minero de nuestro subsuelo por particulares. Ello es así, básicamente, porque los reducidos gravámenes otorgan la posibilidad de trabajar los filones por parte de la iniciativa privada: sólo pagaban los derechos de patente correspondientes a las demás industrias. Pero todavía es demasiado pronto para poder hablar de inversiones foráneas a gran escala.
No obstante, este hecho dejará el terreno abonado para que, en la época isabelina, la liberalización económica sea un hecho clarividente. Sin embargo, no podría decirse lo mismo en lo concerniente al panorama político y religioso dominado por el absolutismo monárquico. Tras la muerte de Fernando VII, la causa isabelina no tuvo más remedio que acudir a los liberales para derrotar a los carlistas. Vencidos éstos, se configurará un entramado político y económico netamente liberal. Dos hechos
Portada del Cementerio de San José
esencialmente significativos de este periodo histórico, de inusitada trascendencia en la todavía villa de Linares, sentaron las bases que permitieron la penetración de capital extranjero con las consecuencias que ello conlleva: desamortizaciones eclesiásticas, gracias a las cuales a muchas tierras y propiedades mineras en manos muertas pasaron al Estado, y luego a particulares; y leyes liberalizadoras de la economía vinculadas con la minería, la banca y el ferrocarril; inversiones realizadas, sobre todo, por inmigrantes británicos que introdujeron tecnología de vanguardia: la Tecnología Cornish, de Cornwall (Inglaterra),
aplicaba desde 1848 el vapor al desagüe de las minas, permitiendo así profundizar y optimizar los beneficios. Pero la escasez de mano de obra condiciona a que los empresarios extranjeros recluten contingentes de efectivos en la provincia, lo que origina un vacío poblacional, a nivel provincial, a favor de Linares. Del resto de Andalucía, las regiones exportadoras de mano de obra más relevantes son Almería y Granada. Albacete, Ciudad Real y Murcia constituyen, del mismo modo, enclaves de exportación de efectivos para el laboreo minero. En menor medida, Cataluña, Valencia, Madrid y la Cornisa
Cantábrica contribuirán con sus paisanos emigrados al crecimiento demográfico de Linares.
La iniciativa británica fue prontamente secundada por ingenieros y empresarios procedentes de otras nacionalidades, como Alemania o Francia, provocando la saturación del suelo linarense.
La Ley de Sociedades de 1869 también propiciará la llegada de numerosos británicos para formar sociedades ente ellos o junto con españoles y miembros de otras nacionalidades. Del mismo modo, la ingente cantidad de inversiones tanto extranjeras como nacionales
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Habría que ver en qué medida la mentalidad británica y el concepto de democracia que ellos tenían calan en los círculos sociopolíticos de la sociedad linarense, amén de alguna tendencia de tipo ideológico como la masonería
necesitarán de un fuerte aval. Y quien mejor para tal cometido que el Banco de España, el cual contaba con alguna que otra inversión extranjera. Hitos de especial relevancia en este periodo lo constituyen el desarrollo del ferrocarril y del transporte urbano local.
Tantos intereses económicos foráneos en Linares necesitan de una fuerte garantía política y diplomática que se llevará a cabo a través de la institución viceconsular, dependiente del consulado malagueño. Desde el punto de vista ideológico, habría que ver en qué medida la mentalidad británica y el concepto de democracia que ellos tenían calan en los círculos sociopolíticos de la sociedad linarense, amén de alguna que otra tendencia de tipo ideológico como la masonería, que se puede ver en algunas tipologías de tumbas en ambos cementerios. El Sexenio Revolucionario es testigo
Tumba masónica
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de cómo en esta ciudad proliferan instituciones docentes y culturales como la Escuela Libre de Capataces de Minas, el Instituto Libre de Enseñanza, la Biblioteca Pública, o el desarrollo de la prensa linarense. Pero paralelamente se estaban forjando los cimientos de la evangelización protestante a través de escuelas dominicales en las que, además de la Biblia se impartía, de forma gratuita otras materias para hijos de trabajadores. Clases impartidas por protestantes inmigrados y locales convertidos al socaire de la evangelización británica. No obstante, el enorme esfuerzo democrático emprendido por los artífices de la Primera República se verá truncado al instaurar el sufragio censitario en el marco de un sistema turnista y caciquil ideado por Cánovas del Castillo. En este sentido, es curioso ver cómo grandes contribuyentes de ascendencia anglosajona, poseen la potestad de elegir a sus representantes políticos y de
aspirar a ocupar escaños. Son pocos los problemas que los misioneros encuentran en este sentido, incluso en un clima confesionalmente católico.
La razón parece bastante obvia: los inmigrados “libraron” al Estado de la gran carga económica que suponía explotar el sector extractivo. Del mismo modo, los impuestos cobrados, permitían sanear las arcas estatales.
Todo ello nos ayuda a entender la indulgencia que las autoridades locales mostraron hacia un grupo de gente que con sus inversiones contribuyeron sobremanera a la prosperidad económica de Linares. Factor este que, entre otros, propició la concesión del título de ciudad en 1875 aunque, claro está, los intereses empresariales de los inmigrados fuesen otros bien distintos. La llegada de la Segunda República configuró un gran espectro de libertades religiosas y políticas semejantes a las del primer periodo republicano. No obstante, la población anglosajona en este periodo desciende a causa del clima de tensión que, desde un principio, se viene generando en España.
La insostenible coyuntura que caracterizaba el panorama político, social y económico de la Segunda República, seguido por el intento golpista de las derechas españolas del momento, desembocaron en los fatídicos acontecimientos que durante tres años salpicaron de sangre a nuestro país. Pese a la relativa neutralidad de España en la
Segunda Guerra Mundial, la diplomacia inglesa operante en Linares se vio en la necesidad de defender no ya los intereses económicos de sus compatriotas, sino su propia integridad física y moral, al tratarse de un colectivo cuyos políticos militaban en el bando aliado. La victoria del ejército sublevado y la posterior formación del régimen franquista desencadenaron una serie de represalias que se cebaron, desde el punto de vista religioso, sobre los protestantes nativos. Aún así, la población británica tal vez se situase en la misma situación de sufrimiento que los civiles españoles. Es por ello que Holberton, el último vicecónsul británico de Linares, tuviese sólo dos preocupaciones que, a duras penas, consiguieron solventarse: la población anglosajona en Linares, situada en el ojo de mira de las autoridades locales y el mantenimiento del cementerio inglés, ya que este enclave constituía un reducto de la religión protestante que los falangistas y ultracatólicos del régimen querían eliminar a toda costa. La situación pudo paliarse gracias al distendido entendimiento entre Churchill y Franco. Pero las represalias contra los protestantes locales no cesaron durante todo el franquismo. Salvo algún incidente aislado con la población foránea, los individuos de ascendencia anglosajona pudieron disfrutar de sus privilegios religiosos, incluso de enterrarse en el cementerio que antaño construyeron sus antepasados.
Durante el régimen franquista, el último vicecónsul británico de Linares tuvo dos preocupaciones que a duras penas consiguieron solventarse: la población anglosajona en Linares, situada en el ojo de mira de las autoridades locales, y el mantenimiento del cementerio inglés
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Patio de San Diego, lugar de memoria histórica
Los cementerios de Linares: cementerio inglés (protestante) y cementerio de San José (católico) Si por un lado se solucionan problemas como la higiene con el cementerio recién construido en 1855 a las afueras de Linares, así como la demanda de servicios funerarios; por otro hemos de decir que las condiciones en las que se encontraba este lugar, a juzgar por las palabras del por entonces Arquitecto Provincial, Jorge Porrúa, no eran especialmente de alabanza: Constituye el actual cementerio de Linares un espacio de terreno de figura rectangular de cincuenta y seis metros de frente por setenta de fondo, mala construcción y de feo aspecto […] un corral para encerrar ganados más bien que el depósito de los restos de nuestros semejantes parece este Campo Santo, insuficiente por su pequeña capacidad y la saturación de su terreno […]. Triste y penosas reflexiones sobre el estado poco lisonjero en que se encuentra nuestro desdichado país […] (1)
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Cementerio de San José (Linares)
La descripción del cementerio municipal construido en 1855 contrasta con la opinión que al técnico, Jorge Porrúa, le merece el cementerio inglés: En este costado de la pared por medio está colocado el pequeño y precioso enterramiento llamado de los ingleses, que ocupa un rectángulo de veinte y cinco metros de fachada por cuarenta y dos de fondo, haciendo notable contraste por su buena disposición, esmerada conservación y agradable aspecto con el que está destinado para los Españoles; quienes hasta en su última morada han de experimentar los efectos de la incuria y abandono de la pública administración (2).
Pero si la disposición que tiene hoy el cementerio inglés está plenamente consolidada, al menos una década antes, no es de extrañar que nos hagamos la siguiente pregunta: ¿constituyó este enclave una fuente de inspiración para el Arquitecto Municipal? Claro está que la disposición interior del cementerio de San José responde a
patrones estrictamente calculados, como el trazado ortogonal de sus estructuras interiores. No obstante, ambos cementerios, mantienen en común una serie de elementos que de forma irrefutable, avalan la hipótesis planteada:
- Calle principal partiendo de la puerta de entrada que desemboca en una estructura no funeraria. - El mismo número de calles laterales, que junto con los caminos o calles transversales, delimitan el entramado parcelario central. Espacio central, cuya funcionalidad difiere en función del cementerio en cuestión: decorativa en el de San José y religiosa en el inglés. -Elementos monumentales y decorativos en algunas de sus tumbas. Algunos incluso reflejan la filiación masónica de inhumandos de sobra conocidos en Linares. La visita y posterior buena impresión que el Arquitecto Provincial tuvo del cementerio de los ingleses, en lo que respecta a los enterramientos individuales y para la época monumentales, tal vez le
valiese para diseñar el nuevo proyecto del camposanto linarense.
Si las comparaciones son odiosas ésta, en concreto, benefició bastante a nuestro patrimonio arquitectónico ya que la visita de Porrúa al cementerio inglés, constituyó un acicate para la construcción del Cementerio Municipal de San José cuyo proyecto fue ideado en 1876, aunque las obras no se liquidasen hasta 1889, dirigidas por Francisco de Paula Casado y Gómez, Arquitecto Municipal. Y aún así, habrá que esperar tres años más para ver su definitiva construcción.
La cartela que corona la Portada de esta colosal obra romántica expone el siguiente texto extraído de la Biblia: CEMENTERIO DE SAN JOSÉ. Y oí una voz en el cielo que me decía: escribe; Bienaventurados los muertos, que mueren en el Señor. Ya desde ahora dice el espíritu que descansen en sus trabajos. Apocal.cap.XIV.vers.XIII/AÑO DE 1892. Es poco usual encontrar este tipo de inscripción funeraria en cementerios católicos. Tal vez Jorge Porrúa tomase la idea de los pasajes bíblicos que adornan las lápidas de las tumbas pertenecientes al espacio funerario del que tan asombrado quedó.
Pero si hablamos de que en 1855 existía ya un cementerio municipal, ¿qué motivo empujó al primer anglosajón fallecido a enterrarse fuera del espacio funerario concebido?. La respuesta es bien sencilla: aunque la monarquía
isabelina luche con todas sus fuerzas por implantar un sistema de gobierno de corte liberal, no debemos perder de vista que la libertad preconizada por esta tendencia ideológica y política sólo atañe a aspectos estrictamente económicos, ya que “La religión de la nación española es la Católica Apostólica y Romana” (3). Por lo que aún, en esta fluctuosa época de cambios, el catolicismo seguirá imperando “con exclusión de cualquier otro culto”. Religión y Estado irán todavía de la mano, y afectará a todos los órdenes sociales tanto de la vida como de la muerte. Por ello las autoridades locales, tal vez presionadas por la Iglesia Católica, en principio también local, prohibirían cualquier enterramiento en el cementerio municipal de un individuo no católico. Sólo de esta forma es posible entender la aparición de la primera inhumación foránea en Linares.
Todo ello es fácilmente comprensible si vemos la anterior experiencia de los ingleses en Málaga, puesto que el primer cementerio inglés de Andalucía fue creado a raíz que el “cónsul inglés William Mark, conmovido por la forma en que los protestantes eran enterrados al anochecer en las playas, y que debido a su religión no podían compartir los espacios católicos destinados para tales fines”(4), decidiera encargarse personalmente de inhumar a sus conciudadanos.
Detalle de la portada del Cementerio de San José
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Es posible que los familiares o compatriotas del primer cadáver inhumado, James George Remfry, o Santiago, como se le conocía en Linares, convinieran en bordear el recinto con una precaria valla, amparados, tal vez por la legislación isabelina que permitía la instalación de cercados en aquellos lugares donde, por diversas razones, no pudieran construirse, en principio , espacios destinados al enterramiento.
El carácter conservador del sistema turnista y caciquil implantado por Cánovas del Castillo perfiló una constitución totalmente confesional a favor del catolicismo
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Esta medida constituyó un precedente para que al fin, la agencia británica Taylor & Taylor, a través de la Compañía Linares Lead Mining, terminase por comprar el terreno que, desde entonces hasta 1957, sirvió de enterramiento a la población británica y protestante en general, pero sólo de origen extranjero. A ello contribuyó bastante la permisividad que la legislación española otorgaba a estas minorías adineradas, sobre todo a raíz de la Constitución de 1869, de marcado carácter progresista a todos los niveles.
Conforme avanza el siglo XIX y nos adentramos en la siguiente centuria, son cada vez más los enterramientos registrados. Y ya es bien extraño, pues el carácter conservador del sistema turnista y caciquil implantado por Cánovas del Castillo perfiló una constitución totalmente confesional a favor del catolicismo. Aún así, este periodo de nuestra historia contemporánea conocido con el nombre de Restauración Borbónica deja un amplio margen para los negocios y finanzas propio de un país que pretende acatar todos los preceptos
del liberalismo doctrinario desde el punto de vista económico.
Pero si a partir del primer tercio del siglo XX el número de enterramientos decrece, es posible que se deba a la situación de posguerra y a cómo las secuelas de la Primera Guerra Mundial deja sentir sus efectos sobre la economía británica, y en especial en lo referente al sector extractivo que arrastra deficiencias desde la crisis finisecular del plomo. Decrecimiento que se verá aún más clarividente con la llegada del crac del 29. Pese a todo, la afluencia foránea es un grifo que no para de cerrase hasta los años previos a la Guerra Civil Española. Época ésta en la que se contempla una masiva huída ante el clima de inseguridad generado.
Todos los anglosajones inhumados profesan la religión evangélica, independientemente de la rama a la que se adhieran. Pero, no eran los únicos protestantes ni de la ciudad ni del Distrito. Es por tal motivo que resulta conveniente plantearnos la siguiente cuestión: ¿dónde se enterraban los protestantes nativos?. Las fechas expuestas por las lápidas nos muestran inhumaciones de protestantes linarenses relativamente recientes: desde 1968 en adelante, al menos en lo que respecta al espacio de enterramiento utilizado por la población foránea. Lo que irremediablemente nos llevaría a pensar que sólo la población extranjera, cristiana y no católica podía utilizar este espacio.
Más complejo parece aún, entender los motivos por los cuales ese cementerio se conservó durante los años inmediatos a la Posguerra. El último vicecónsul afincado en Linares, Carol Holberton, se marchó preocupado a la vez que resignado ante la inoperancia del Forenig Office en lo que respecta a la conservación del cementerio. Pero, pese a que los protestantes linarenses, al igual que los del resto de España, fueron objeto de persecución y aislamiento por parte del nuevo Estado dictatorial, Churchill, una vez terminada la Guerra Mundial, veía en Franco un potencial aliado para combatir al comunismo. Este clima de acercamiento a occidente se hará más patente conforme la dictadura vaya evolucionando en el tiempo. Esa pseudoamistad entre Inglaterra y España también se verá reflejada en el hecho de que el cementerio británico sea conservado a través de mediadores británicos, posiblemente afincados en Gibraltar. Para los protestantes locales, en el Cementerio Municipal de San José se habilitó un espacio que utilizaron hasta 1968, junto con los ateos y los “muertos en pecado” (suicidas). Estamos ante el Cementerio Civil de Linares, que no es más que una prolongación del Cementerio de San José. Tendría, incluso, su propia entrada separado del resto del inmueble diseñado en 1876 por Porrúa. Las condiciones para el enterramiento en este lugar eran pésimas. Los linarenses de ascendencia
británica serán pues, los únicos que tendrían el privilegio de enterrase en el cementerio inglés, ello debido a las relaciones algo más distendidas entre Gran Bretaña y España a través, posiblemente, de la colonia gibraltareña. Aún así, la comunidad protestante de Linares no se resignaba ante la idea de seguir enterrándose en ese espacio concebido en el Cementerio de San José que con justa razón calificaban con el apodo de corralillo. La población extranjera de filiación católica podía enterrarse sin problema en el cementerio municipal; o lo que es lo mismo para la fecha que estamos tratando, en el camposanto católico, desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta bien entrado el siglo XX. Textos bilingües y en lengua nativa (inglés, sobre todo) corroboran este hecho.
Habrá que esperar a finales de los años sesenta, y al nuevo cariz que propugnaba el Concilio Vaticano Segundo para que el cementerio inglés vuelva a ser ocupado esta vez con protestantes del lugar. Pero en lo que respecta a la población de ascendencia británica, conviene decir que fueron pocos los ingleses que aquí quedaron hasta el final de sus días, regresando de nuevo a la tierra que les vio nacer a ellos o a sus padres.
Para los protestantes locales, en el Cementerio de San José se habilitó un espacio que utilizaron hasta 1968, junto con los ateos y los “muertos en pecado” (suicidas). Estamos ante el Cementerio Civil de Linares, que no es más que una prolongación del Cementerio de San José
Aprovechando esta oportunidad, la comunidad evangélica de Linares indagó a objeto de descubrir quién era el propietario del cementerio inglés, hasta dar con uno de los últimos descendientes perteneciente a la familia Hasselden, Enrique Hasselden
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Montes, afincado por aquel entonces en Alicante, hijo de Pedro Hasselden y de la cordobesa Dolores Montes. Éste cedió la propiedad de los terrenos a la comunidad evangélica de Linares para sus enterramientos si a cambio se comprometían a velar por las tumbas de sus ancestros y antiguos compatriotas. De esta forma, la comunidad evangélica de Linares se pudo enterrar allí desde 1968. Hoy por hoy, constituye un espacio propiedad de las Asambleas de Hermanos de Linares, sólo y exclusivamente. Al igual que antaño, el uso del cementerio inglés responde a cuestiones relacionadas con el ámbito de la propiedad privada. Bibliografía: •
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CONTRERAS CORTÉS, F. y DUEÑAS MOLINA, J. (coord.) Minería y metalurgia en el Alto Guadalquivir. Ed. Instituto de Estudios Giennenses. Diputación Provincial de Jaén; 2010. GUTIÉRREZ GUZMÁN; F. Las Minas de Linares. Apuntes Históricos. Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Técnicos de Minas de Linares, Linares, 1999. LÓPEZ SOTO, J. y GONZÁLEZ MONTES, M. Historia de la Iglesia Evangélica en Jaén. MUÑOZ DUEÑAS; Mª. D. El cierre del viceconsulado británico en Linares y la intolerancia religiosa durante el primer franquismo. Pág. 503552. Boletín de Estudios Gienneses. Nº 172 , 1999. PARRILLA SÁNCHEZ, J. El cementerio inglés de Linares
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•
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•
•
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1855-1957: las historia cultural y religiosa de la colonia británica a través de las lápidas. Ed. Entre Libros. Linares, 2005. SÁNCHEZ CABALLERO, J. Las calles de Linares, su historia y vicisitudes Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Linares, 1981. SOLER BELDA, R. y CAROACCINO MENÉNDEZ, R. Introducción a la prensa, imprenta y política de Linares.1868-1975. Entre Libros, 2003. VVAA. La Minería de Linares (1860-1923). Diputación Provincial de Jaén. Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Linares, 1987. El Cementerio Inglés de Linares. Buenas Noticias. (TV2; 30/04/2014) http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/v ideos/buenas-noticiastv/buenas-noticias-tvcementerio-ingleslinares/2477951/
Notas de pie de página:
(1) Obras Municipales (O.M.) Leg. 884-18 · “Proyecto para la terminación de obras en el cementerio”. Jaén, 1876. AML. El cementerio de 1855, sufrió otra remodelación en 1871, fecha en la que fue aprobada, puede que otras más, pero no fueron muy buenas a juzgar por las posteriores palabras de Porrúa en 1876. (2) Ibidem. (3) Constitución de 1845. Art. 11 (4) Un paseo por la muerte, el cementerio inglés.
Gerardo Ballesteros, 27 de julio de 2001. Centro Cultural y Provincial. Aérea de Cultura y Educación. Diputación Provincial de Málaga.
Kate Fabiani Rigo PhD student in Religion and Education for Colleges EST / Georg-August-Universität
A tree, a rock, lots of flowers and a profile: the transformation of cemeterial space in times of post-modernity and connectivity1
GĂśttingen. CAPES Scholarship. Advisor: Dr. Wilhelm Wachholz. Line of research by CNPq: Christianity and Religions in Latin America.
Abstract: Walking through the Berliner Waldfriedhof, it is possible to notice a significant increase in the memorial tombs, and replacing the headboards of stone by the shadow of a tree, large nameplates by small stones engraved with little information about the deceased; the allegorical statues are replaced by small gifts or personal belongings; recorded epitaphs are exchanged by letters from family, and stones are replaced by a variety of plants that sometimes are mixed to the nature of graveyard. Concomitant with the movement of dispassion for the perpetuation of the memory stone tomb, there have have a significant expansion of memorial pages in social networks,
where the memory of the deceased is worshiped and constantly visited by friends and family.
Keywords: Connectivity; Postmodernity; Memorial pages; Virtual memory; Cemeteries transformation. Introduction:
The cemetery is a space created, organized and maintained by the living in order to bury their dead and to perpetuate the memory of those who have been. Until the twentieth century, cemeteries were characterized by the presence of
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stone tombs, small temples, family tombs and various works of art that to utter or not, the faith of the deceased and his family. They were also spaces of circulation and visitation. The care and maintenance of graves and mausoleums were carried by mourners who came to the cemetery to visit their loved ones. From the 21st century, cemeteries landscape has suffered a major transformation. The presence of tombs consist of mausoleums, stone tomb and funerary statuary were replaced by trees, gardens and small shrines consist of letters, photographs and personal belongings of the dead. Already the maintenance of graves, is often performed by the cemetery administration that offers the service of gardening for families who do not have time or live too far1. away.
The society of the XXI century is characterized by having a busy routine, for a lack of engagement in long-term projects, by not being tied to long-lasting relationships by investing in professional life, not many have or not have children, then there is no concern only belong to a creed, but try different types of confessions. The postmodern world is characterized by dynamics and not by stability and continuity. What the individual thinks, feels or does should be published on virtual networks of social interaction immediately. The importance of post-modern individual is directly tied to your virtual existence by the number of friends (as) it holds in social networks and their popularity is
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measured by means of likeds and shares made in their virtual postings.
This agitation and lack of concern for the perpetuation of postmodern society is changing the landscape of physical cemeteries and intensifying visitation and creating virtual cemeteries and memorials to people who have died. The study was conducted in three cemeteries in Berlin, from a qualitative research and by nonparticipant virtual ethnographic research conducted in sites of virtual cemeteries and open public profiles of people who have passed on, but an option for the family, even have their accounts activated.
1. Cemeterial space:
Cemeteries are places set to welcome the dead and to help the living to deal and to think about their own finitude. In addition, cemeteries are important for the preservation of individual, family and community memory of a particular place. To reaffirm this idea Motta notes that: [...] In the second half of the twentieth century the tomb became a sign of identity of the dead or, as already pointed out Ariès, the main sign of the presence of the dead beyond death itself. From there its dual and ambivalent task: while serving to hide the corpse, given the inevitable and feared devouring action of worms, fulfilled, at least in the plane
imagetic, fantasy and incorruptibility of flesh, that is, a kind of symbolic preservation device and presentification the deceased, allowing return to family and group of friends the picture of the deceased by the exercise of remembrance and memory. (Motta, 2009: 41)
Until the mid-twentieth century cemeteries had strong influence of romanticism and the expression of pain, longing, grief and exaltation of the memory of the dead was represented on funerary statuary, large mausoleums and gravestones inscriptions in stone, this is the way found by the mourners of preserve the memory of their loved ones. [...]The finitude represented at the same time, this ambivalent place of disgust and desire, which poetically transformed the cemetery and their graves in a kind of inner refuge, isolation of the world, resting place of introspection, contemplation, gathering in that the individual could indulge in melancholy voluptuousness of hours, indulging in the storms of life. (Motta, 2009: 50).
When visiting cemeteries and graves of the XXI century is possible to see how the dynamics of post-modernity is taking up your space and transforming the dynamics of funerary rituals and the landscape of the necropolis. This is an issue that is being heavily debated in Germany by Christian religious leaders. As we can see this report published by Deutsche Welle about the Friedwälder:
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The German Catholic Church also argues that friedwälder lead to erosion of the meaning behind a Christian burial. After all, taking care of a grave is more than uproot the weeds around them, said Father Andreas Scholler. He believes it is important to know that a human being does not simply disappear after death, but that "someone's still watching me, caring me. Undid Not me nothing, I was not deleted". (DW, 2005)
Thinking from the quote above, it is seen that the post-modern society, a first impression is no longer concerned with preserving the memory of their dead and much less interested in permanently express their sense of loss. However, while visiting the memorials open the virtual cemeteries or social networks like
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Facebook, it is perceived that there was only one migration from the mourning ritual and worship the memory of the dead of the real environment to the virtual environment.
2. The Woodlands Cemetery:
A large place, full of trees, different types of flowers, with a diverse fauna, and sometimes with the presence of a lake. At first believed to be walking for a small forest or a park, however, along the way are some tombstones, wind vane, letters and photographs that signal the presence of a cemetery environment. The Cemeteries Forests had their origin in Switzerland and had a strong membership in the German cities. The idea of friedwälder was born in Switzerland: the person
chooses a place in the woods, under a tree, where, after death, his ashes are deposited, inside an urn. (DW, 2005)
In Berlin the Forests cemeteries merge to the traditional cemeteries of the twentieth century. As is the case of cemeteries visited for writing this article: Friedhof HeerstraĂ&#x;e, Luisenfriedhof III and Friedhof I der GeorgenParochialgemeinde. The adoption of this model of the cemetery may be linked to this new postmodern social dynamics that excels in convenience and mobility, as well as the economic issue, since this model of burial is eventually less expensive, to the budget family of the deceased. When her husband was alive, Ingrid Ehrlichmann used to long walks with him there
(friedw채lder). Today, she comes to visit his grave, located at the foot of a tree. Two months ago she ordered to bury the casket of her husband in there, and is convinced that this is the ideal location. "The advantage is that there is no subsequent costs and I am not obliged to take care of the grave. Can I go on holiday without having to ask someone to water the flowers." With objectivity, Ingrid adds: "I want to change this town. So when I leave, I will leave my husband in a 'neutral' place that befits him.". In Germany, the wild cemeteries are actually less costly than conventional. And more and more people are preferring this anonymous burial, since their relatives cannot or will not keep the tombs. (DW, 2005)
Is interesting to note, in the previous quote, the concern about leaving the dead at a neutral site. Appears an intention "not to worry" with the maintenance of the tomb, which affects the preservation of an identity before it was preserved through a formal burial. And once again, the religious leaders are manifested in relation to this "lack" of a specific place and fixed to worship the memory of the departed: According to a statement from the Conference of German Bishops, it is important that the living may know where their dead were buried, to remind them of their own mortality. "The living celebrate the dead because they live, and not for
them to live," the statement said. This opinion is also shared by the Lutheran Church, which observes the new forms of burial as a result of solitary aging population and increasing individualism. As was written in a cemetery tombstone Melaten in Cologne: Only die those who are forgotten. And for this, I celebrate my death with this mausoleum. (ALBUQUERQUE, 2005)
The idea of death related to the loss of an individual memory, makes the postmodern society find a way out of this dilemma: the creation of cemeteries and memorials in virtual networking.
The idea of death related to the loss of an individual memory, makes the postmodern society find a way out of this dilemma: the creation of cemeteries and memorials in virtual networking
3. The Internet that immortalizes:
The era of instant connectivity and interaction allows us to have all our steps updated in real time. The postmodern society perpetuates their shares through apps such as Instagram, are located through the check-ins of their social networks, expose their views on videos posted on Youtube and express their feelings and losses through social networks, as Facebook or Google Plus. As Bauman wrote: we now have what our parents could not even imagined: we have the internet and the worldwide web, we have "information highway" connecting us promptly, "in real-time", to every nook and cranny of the planet, and all that inside these handy pocket-size mobile phones or
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iPods, within our reach day and night and moving wherever we do. (BAUMAN, 2011:3)
The need to be an active and popular person in the virtual universe makes people to seek the most diverse ways to call attention to their social networks, either positively or negatively. This modification in the behavior of Westernized societies has made the mourning is no longer advertised, only through phone calls or funeral announcements, but through postings on social networks. Funeral rites are modified significantly, especially in industrialized societies: the dead disturbs, and all in a hurry to continue their daily activities [...] Thus, the rites of mourning are observed discretely, and a society focused on profit , the family no longer has time for rites considered secondary. (Bayard, 1996: 190)
As well as the postmodern family does not have time to practice the ancient burial rituals and friends also did not, which makes the internet and social networks are the solutions in the case of a death, since the mere fact of "like "mourning a post or comment on it already disclaims responsibility or need to attend the funeral and the destination of the body (burial, cremation, cryogenics or other) procedure. After all, as I wrote Ariès:
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In ancient liturgy, they say, is the honored dead; in the new, it is directed more to the survivors,
to edify them and comfort them. Although it is assumed in this case that the survivors are entitled to a consolation. [...] Today is shameful to speak of death and dilaceration that causes [...]. When someone deviates from you because you're grieving, is giving a way to avoid the slightest allusion to the loss that you just suffered, or to reduce the inevitable condolences to some hurried words, not that the person has no heart and no is upset, on the contrary, is by being upset, and the more you're upset, the more hide his feeling and seem cold and indifferent. Dignity prohibits from then on, every reference to death. It's morbid, it is to pretend it does not exist; there are only people who disappear and are not talked about more - and which may be later speech when you have forgotten who died. (ARIÈS, 2003, p. 224-225)
Talk about death, in times of postmodernity, makes us think about our finitude and it bothers, since currently aging is bad and should be avoided at all costs. This denial of death, according to Kovács: [...]deny death is a way to avoid contact with suffering and simultaneously allows us to live the dream of immortality. (KOVÁCS apud MACEDO,2011,p.15)
Thinking about this question of "dream of immortality" we can understand the internet as a
resource for immortalization of our dead, since it allows the interaction of the living with their dead through scraps, "likes" contemplation of photos, record testimonials on commemorative dates. Thinking about this need for us to interact with those who have departed and relieve the pain of those left behind, some social networks have created tools that transform the profile of the dead in memorial, [...]to relieve the morbidity of some of these social networks [...] there is "lighter" options in the form of memorials, where relatives and friends of the person who died, can leave messages, share pictures and testimonials, such as Respectance, the Memorial Pages, the Legacy.com, and Memorial.gov.hk. These services are also used so-called collaborative, since it is allowed, besides sending old photographs, share stories and even create a timeline allowing interconnect profiles, detailing the degree of connection between the network members. (Mazzei, 2013:7)
Furthermore, has also been created the tool of the virtual cemetery in which can to assemble a virtual tombstone, light candles, write testimonials to the dead, pay condolences to the bereaved families or a small memorial. These virtual cemeteries end up facilitating the lives of the bereaved, since it is no longer necessary to travel to the cemetery to worship or honor the loved one:
During the twentieth century, as well as transformations of the post-mortem rituals described above, as the mourning practices that have become so individualized, solitary and introspective, are perceived at the same time, new ways to deal with the loss in the virtual world . Contemporary practices of mourning on the internet, how to leave messages of condolence or online pages remembering the deceased one, are found in many sites of online cemeteries, which are created to remember and preserve the memory of the deceased. Existing since the mid-1990s in several countries, such as Germany, USA, France and Portugal, the online cemeteries have as main objective to provide pages with memorials of dead people. (Tomasi, 2013: 100)
The maintenance of dead people profiles on social networks by living people is generating some constraints, as in the case of a friend who, not knowing the person's death, wish them congratulations and many years of life on their birthday. This can easily occur, since some social networks like Facebook, for example, has a tool in which may wish congratulations birthday without going directly to the person's profile. It is unclear what the real impact of the assimilation of the grieving process or complete denial of death of others. [...]Many researchers have these types of social networks and websites, as something
The maintenance of dead people profiles on social networks by living people is generating some constraints, as in the case of a friend who, not knowing the person's death, wish them congratulations and many years of life on their birthday
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unhealthy and narcissistic, as thus enables man to believe in his immortality, that is, found a way to not let us never bury by the other, a form of be eternally as the object of devotion of loved ones, without allowing these they experience their rituals of farewell. However, there is no denying the imminent increasingly growth of so-called "digital legacies." It is too early to say what will be the true impact of such services on the grieving process, because while which may come to ease the pain of relatives and friends, can give people, appointed as tutors, a power to decide and write artificial messages in the name of the deceased, which can cause
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numerous problems. This is something that in other times ever imagined themselves: social media is the first entity to enable the afterlife and have concrete proof of this fact. About this, what is noticeable is that the control accounts, the selection of applications and websites that allow the media after being death, is creating problems rather interesting as the maintenance or not of digital properties, in addition to the emergence of equally intriguing solutions. (Mazzei, 2013:8)
The Internet is taking the familiar space when accommodating the mourner allowing him to express his grief through your posts, as well
as the religious space, where it allows the virtual interaction of the living with their dead and also the social space when enable friends and the bereaved family of a virtual interaction without the constraint of direct contact. For this to happen, just be connected a power source, be associated in any social network and available network for sending and receiving data. Final considerations:
Think about the modification of the physical space of the necropolis and on the dynamics of virtual mourning is something that will still be the agenda of much discussion in the fields of study and analysis of the social sciences,
anthropology, psychology, theology and education. It is a phenomenon that is occurring in an accelerated manner and we do not have enough subsidies to define and judge as a positive or negative phenomenon.
Take into account that the changing dynamics of living affects and influences directly the dynamics of mourning and worship in the definition of landscape and / or existence of the necropolis. Furthermore, when analyzing the creation of virtual cemeteries we see the need we have as human beings to express our losses, express our pain and our worship of the dead, and all this can be made in a headstone, a tree, a profile or a memorial virtual.
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Referencies: •
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ALBUQUERQUE, Carlos. Só morre quem foi esquecido. Disponível em: http://www.dw.de/s%C3%B3morre-quem-%C3%A9esquecido/a-1763608. Acesso: 14 de setembro de 2014. ARIÈS, Philippe. 2003. História da Morte no ocidente. Rio de Janeiro: Ediouro. BAUMAN, Zygmunt. 2011. 44 Cartas do Mundo Líquido Moderno. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar. BAYARD, Jean-Pierre. 1996. Sentido oculto dos ritos mortuários. Morrer é Morrer? São Paulo: Paulus. DW. Friedwälder: a paz final em meio à natureza. Disponível em: http://www.dw.de/friedw%C3 %A4lder-a-paz-final-em-meio-
•
%C3%A0-natureza/a1641757. Acesso: 13 de setembro de 2014. MOTTA, Antonio. 2009. À flor da pedra: formas tumulares e processos sociais nos cemitérios brasileiros. Recife: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco. Ed. Massangana, 2009. MACEDO, João C. G. Martins. 2011. Educar para a morte: uma abordagem a partir de Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. Coimbra: Edições Almeida. MAZZEI, Tatiana Anchieschi. Perenidade On Line: Quando a Morte Não é o Fim de Tudo Redes sociais, sites e aplicativos abrindo caminhos para a estética da imortalidade a partir de nossos rastros digitais. Disponível em: http://portalintercom.org.br/a nais/sudeste2013/resumos/R 38-0962-1.pdf. Acesso em: 12 de setembro 2014. TOMASI, Julia Massucheti.“Eternamente OffLine”: As Práticas Do Luto Na Rede Social Do Orkut No Brasil (2004-2011). Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade Do Estado De Santa Catarina/ UDESC. Centro de Ciências Humanas e da Educação/ FAED Disponível em: http://www.faed.udesc.br/arq uivos/id_submenu/784/julia_ massucheti_tomasi.pdf Acesso: 10 de setembro de 2014.
When analyzing the creation of virtual cemeteries we see the need we have as human beings to express our losses, express our pain and our worship of the dead
Footnotes:
1 This paper was translated from portuguese by Thiago Nicolau de Araújo.
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Melinda Kostelac Assist. Prof., University in Rijeka City of Opatija
The History of the cemeteries in Opatija: from monastery cemetery to European cemeterian memorabilia
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Abstract: The present cemetery of the city of Opatija implies the complex history of former Benedict monastery Abacia, and stands as inheritor of two former burial locations (St. Jacob, Lesicevo). By the end of the 19th century Opatija was transformed into the top resort European centre, therefore, within less than 20 years at the mentioned period Abbazia (Opatija) relocated its municipal cemetery even twice, creating a remarkable context of demographical changes, transforming the monoreligious village into multicultural destination, a hometown for numerous recognised individuals, experts and intellectuals, bringing in the flow of multicultural heritage that should be mapped and taken in
consideration within the future touristic strategies. Keywords: Opatija (Abbazia), Municipal cemeteries, Demographic expansion, Urban planning, Collective heritage, Funerary tourism.
Introduction: Abbazia, from monastery village to the top European resort It is true that one should visit a town's cemetery to fully read and recognise the past and the present of the city. Cemeteries are silent, but undeniable testimonies of history and the present of a certain
community. In case of Opatija (which, due to the political and historical context is also named Abbazia) it is not easy to trace the whole history at once, since Abbazia, that is, Opatija, a flower grown under the Austrian monarchy, although today celebrates 170 years of tourism, did not reveal or revaluated its exceptional funeral past.
The outstanding success of touristic history of Opatija (first traced as „Abacia“, which has root in Italian word for monastery, abbazia) occurred in the last 2 decades of 19th century, during the government of Austrian Monarchy. Before that, Abacia was only a monastery village between two more important medieval municipalities, Veprinaz and Volosco, spotted mostly by sailors from the decks of passing boats, trafficking through the bay of Quarnero. The whole wider area was inhabited for centuries, and echoes with Slavic mythological landscape marks and toponims1, while later on, in the medieval times, became strongly connected to the Christianity, i.e., Catholicism. In the ancient times, the people who inhabited the same land had different customs; they were burning the remains of deceased, or burying them in the forests, until they were gathered as Christian communities in the Medieval Age mainly from the 14th century on. By the last quarter of 19th century the bay of Quarnero started a new chronology when prosperous leaders of the stock company, The Southern Railways2 from Wien, the
capital of monarchy, decided to build the railway road between Wien and Rijeka, completed at 1873. Tracing the morphology of the terrain, surrounding of the future railroad, the expert team became astonished by the beauty of the Quarnero bay; therefore, besides the planned profit of the railway market connected with the industrial and merchant harbour of Rijeka, leading stockers decided to build a new project, a luxury resort, which completely surrounded the monastery of Abacia.
The Southern railway practically bought today's centre of Abbazia, landzone from the city harbour to location Slatina, and within 3 years time built over 40 huge hotels and dependences. Experienced in counting and predicting the possible statistic outcome of tourists' traffic visiting the new Kurort, (that is, „the Healing Garden“, as Opatija was soon named) was proved to be true, since the number of visitors until 1900 was counted in thousands3.
The town that before 1880 had only 112 citizens suddenly became a good place to live and within few years, until the 1900 had over 1200 new, foreign citizens. Who were these people? They were doctors, surgeons, merchants, hoteliers, experts in various fields, producing the complete makeover and a new cultural beginning in a place that no longer could stand for an outcast. And what is important, they originate from different
In the ancient times, the people who inhabited the same land had different customs; they were burning the remains of deceased, or burying them in the forests, until they were gathered as Christian communities in the Medieval Age mainly from the 14th century on
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confessional origins.
It is also known, from the older verified living testimonies, that many of the people had no choice but to bury their loved ones in the upper hills sub-municipalities
communions
and
What Southern Railways leaders of the newborn tourism resort didn't predict was the case of imperative for further infrastructuctural urban planning for new citizens and local people, which mostly is revealed in the case of the lack of appropriate, municipal cemetery. Stockers only wanted to disband and relocate the old cemetery St. Jacob, for the commercial and aesthetic purposes. That's how the history reveals first of the three steps of the relocation and building municipal cemeteries in Opatija. The most significant fact is also intriguing – there are only original project drawings for one of the 3 cemeteries found in any of the available archives, and the first oldest cemetery is shown only on the maps. Therefore, every small artefact or urban fragment on proper locations became real remaining testimony of the municipal history, that echoes within the written documents, like records and agendas of the municipal council of VoloscoAbbazia (in the period of 1850 until the 1918.), where we can trace the discussions and administrative decisions of building the municipal cemeteries for Opatija (Abbazia). The cemetery of St. Jacob
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The old cemetery of the monastery church of St. Jacob, built as the part of self-sustaining complex at the 15th Century, had a long lasting, but very small capacity. The original borderline of it can be
traced thanks to the maps drawn by the Franciscan cadastral maps archived in Trieste, the capital administrative centre4.
The mapping of the municipalities of the whole Rayon were made twice (first at 1819., and at 1870.) for the purpose of cadastral measurements and taxes, obligatory for each of the municipality within the monarchy. While mapping the monastery's borders of Abacia, it can be seen that the old cemetery was really small, possibly situated on two levels, one right above the Karst seaside waterfront, and one on the south-western part of the church.
How the funeral remains survived the strikes of the seastrike waves „scirocco“, the strong southern wind, considering the lower level, it is an opened question. But the cemetery, that's for sure, did not survive the touristic endeavour. By the end of the 19th century the cemetery was already replaced with a neoclassical concept of the pavilion, used as pastry coffee, with a terrace above the ex cemeteries land for noble, idle people.
For a long period time, the cemetery St. Jacob took the role of the parish cemetery, and within time therefore must have spread its borders to the park ground5. It is also known, from the older verified living testimonies, that many of the people had no choice but to bury their loved ones in the upper hills sub-municipalities of Veprinac, Vasanska and Bernardovo, or nearby Volosco and even Castua (Kastav). Most of these cemeteries
Cemetery of Opatija, entrance.
were not yet reconstructed to bear the sanitary standards, ordered by decree by the Monarchy; they were all similar, parish cemeteries, near the church ground, and often hardly to maintain, with little of the earth ground to cover the grave tombs, which was the common problem of the all karst cemeteries in Liburnia6.
The problem generated by the capitalistic projections was that St. Jacob cemetery simply “got in the way” of this heavenly Abbazia, especially when the Southern Railway direction decided to enrich it's seaside possibilities, building the first part of famous Lungomare at 1889., the path platform above the hostile karst rocks, for a seaside walks, along the whole seaside of Abbazia7.
Therefore, the lower particle of St. Jacobs was to be demolished.
Moreover, according to the old postcards, it was clear that the cemetery was not a wishful lightmotive in the advertising focus of the healing heaven, being in the middle of the picturesque park grounds and monumental hotels, like Quarnero (built in 1884.) and Hotel Stephanie (built in 1886.), where even the Austrian emperor Franz Josef was a guest; it only gave an uncomfortable feeling of death and decay in the top resort destination, at that time competitive to Baden Baden and Niza.
The mystery of statue Madonna (1896 – 1953) One crucial artefact remained as a symbol and a landmark of this first cemetery location, until 1953; it is the case of the statue of Madonna.
Today the copy of the sculpture of
Madonna stands all cover with gold at the front door of the church St. Jacob, while the original is in the Croatian Tourist Museum in Villa Angiolina; but the true location of „gray Madonna“, sculpted from karst stone, was the stonecape where today stands the greatest symbol of Opatija „Nymphea Salute to the Sea“ (see endnote number 5).
Madonna was not a church worship matter (the main devotee saint being St Jacob), but a representative funeral memorial monument in front of the cemetery location, made by famous sculptor Hans Rathausky, ordered as the „last goodbye“ for the tragic death of the Countess Kesselstadt's son, who was drowned in the seastorm at 1896 right in the front of the same cape. Meanwhile, loosing its burial location background, Madonna became a devotee symbol
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for visitors walking on Lungomare, with her figure fronted to the sea in a state of prayer.
After the Second World War, the monument „got in the way“of the new of atheistic, communist government of ex Republic state Jugoslavia. The sea Nymphea sculptural concept offered more neutral and appropriate panoramic attraction, put on the same spot, bringing in the new wave of touristic prosperity, but also covering the location's past8. At 1885, Southern Railways directors, familiar with the new municipal sanitary and urban standards, and getting the rights to use the St. Jacobs cemetery land, pulling their political strings in Wien, pushed the urban planning to relocate the seaside cemetery to the upper margins of the city. In the return for the church cemetery land, they were obligated to project the new municipal cemetery9.
The idea of finding the new location for the real municipal cemetery lead to the location called Lesicevo, 100 meters above the seaside. Lesicevo was at that time perfect ground, situated right across the first water supply reservoirs distributing the water of the spring Clara to wellness pools and pipes of all the hotels owned by the Southern Railways, from 1883 on10. It was the property of the family Jezica Toncinic, and their house soon became the cemetery chapel. The author of the project plan was made by Oswald Meese. The cemetery was opened on the 30th of Jun at 188511. But due to the
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further demographic expansion of Abbazia, the capacity of cemetery Lesicevo came to soon to its limits, and the higher authorities ordered to close the cemetery at 1898. This was a clear indicator that nobody could really predict the future demographic growth of Abbazia. Economical, social and religious context of great urban growth and landscape traces: building and relocating the municipal cemeteries
It would not be appropriate to continue the chronology of cemeteries history and not briefly elaborate the great social and demographic changes brought by the newcomers in Opatija (Abbazia) within the same period especially from 1883 to 1900.
Most of the investors and new citizens were of other confessional spheres than catholic, traditional context such Abbazia was. Many of them were of Protestant and Judaism confession. In fact, according to the later archive documents, and the testimony of Nathan Bernardo12, it is obvious that there was a significant change of proportion going on in a demographical aspect in Abbazia from 1884 until the end of First World War 1918, when political borders significantly changed. Not to mention that the increase of the number of the citizens was strongly connected also with the local people who also started their own tourist business, building their own dependences and family houses. In that way multireligionality went on at the beginning of 20th century.
Most of the investors and new citizens were of other confessional spheres than catholic, traditional context such Abbazia was. Many of them were of Protestant and Judaism confession
The traces of discrimination are numerous, but are shown implicitly also in the funeral matters, for example, when it came to the matter of saving the tombs of former outstanding individuals; such was Julius Glax, who practically „invented“ the healing touristic heaven of Abbazia, or even building the gravestone for individuals in German language, which was soon forbidden
After the War, many citizens left Abbazia, becoming foreigners because of the new state borders, i.e., the new political jurisdiction of Italian government, where Abbazia became part of the Provincia del Quarnero13, government who soon showed austerity to the whole multiconfessional community, forbidding the Croatian citizens to speak and write their native language.
The traces of discrimination are numerous, but are shown implicitly also in the funeral matters, for example, when it came to the matter of saving the tombs of former outstanding individuals, such was Julius Glax, who practically „invented“ the healing touristic heaven of Abbazia, or even building the gravestone for individuals in German language, which was soon forbidden. Parallel to the Judaism, in Abbazia were many Protestants, likewise, rich investors, therefore at 1903 the new built Evangelic church was inaugurated in the western part of municipality of Volosco-Abbazia. The importance of the event had the highest level, since King Oscar, Sweddish-Norwegian king, was the special guest at the church opening. It became obvious that new municipal cemetery needed more than one confessional field and was becoming a diplomatic matter. During the past, and even at the beginning of the 20th century, the usual catholic praxis within perish cemeteries divided the burial field to „catholic“ and non-catholic part, moreover, burying the suicidal
„atheist“, „pagans“ and „strangers“14 on the margins of the cemeteries, usually not a consecrated ground. Multiconfessionalism, which imposed to Abbazia as a matter of fact, left no traces of division in the confessional fields on the first, new municipal cemetery, since Lesicevo was completely demolished and removed. The first municipal cemetery of Abbazia, Lesicevo (1885 – 1899)
Lesicevo, although meant to be the new permanent solution for the future funeral purposes, in fact became the shortest municipal cemetery in the whole Rayon of the Volosco-Abbazia15.
Built quickly and opened at 1885, it obviously suffered the same lack of the capacity for all the newcomers, citizens of Abbazia, although it had over 5000 square meters. Lesicevo is a mystery and a funeral curiosity of its own. Beside it's temporality, the location today shows signals of the former purpose mostly by massive surrounding border walls, on which the southern, lower side show clear concept of representative symmetry and monumentality, while two niches, empty apsidal sculptural spaces, recall the absence of some unfinished saint's sculptural program, one on the centred entrance level, and another one on the most upper terrain level. According to Boris Zakosek' research, this parcel changed its purposes many times (being a private propriety, then a cemetery with a mortuary, then the new built
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Asilo (kindergarten) during the Italian period (1932-1945)16, while part of the ground served even as the weapon storage for Italians. Moreover, at 1974 the Tennis Club Opatija and their Board Council got the approval from the authorities to widen the playfield, digging off into the parcel of ex cemetery, making of it the fourth, upper tennis platform. Many citizens recall that during the excavation of the earth ground, human bones came out; standing as a horrible testimony for accidental passengers, until the tennis playground was completed and the ghosts of the past were buried forever17.
After the Second World War and the process of nationalisation at 1945 the building object at Lesicevo became the Medicine Ambulance (Dispanser) up today, meanwhile, at 2003., the surrounding ground was rearranged for the children playground. Today's panorama shows the same state of the parcel for over four decades.
65 St Jacob former cemetery
Relocating the past: the cultural mapping of today's municipal cemetery in Opatija (1903 – 2014) The archive records of the meeting sessions of municipal council of Volosco-Abbaziaagainsts reveals the problem of cemetery relocation for the second time, at 1888, but everything remained as vague ideas for 10 years, after the Lesicevo was forcedly closed down by higher authorities. Moreover, one must bear in mind that the additional reason, beside the growth of the number of living citizens, the intensive flow of people, and many sanatoriums which opened their door to heal the numerous patients from all parts of the monarchy and wider, death cases were quite common, which enhanced the problem of temporary burials, as the official procedure before the exhumation and transport sanitary procedure in their homelands was completed.
The procedure was even more rigorous in the case of the death caused by infective diseases and was forbidden during the summer season from June to October. Members of the municipal council therefore looked for possible new cemetery location, situated in Skerbici, (today's cemetery Opatija) which had better possibilities for future expansions. The works on the today's municipal cemetery begun soon at 1901, after the city council accepted the presented project and the financial construction (the author of project is not known); in the year of 1902 started the building of the road approaching to the new cemetery, Skerbici.
At 1905, the amount of 10.000, part of the sum of 180.000 Austrian coronas, as total cost of the cemetery, was paid by municipality. The investment was planned to be covered by the buyers of the future burial places.
Lesicevo today's southern entrance
At 1899, there are archive traces for first requests for relocating the remains of their deceased members of the family into the new cemetery ground (Tomasic), although the municipal cemetery was formally opened at 1903, like ossuarries, while the mortuary chapel, dedicated to St. Michael, was consecrated at 1906. Along with the fading of the cemetery Lesicevo, municipality of Abbazia offered on „auction-sale“ for the equipment of tombs, like gravestones and crosses, the curious detail of „second hand“ utility of the former symbol equipment to the citizens.
During the Italian government trouble times came along for the multicultural society of the Comune di Abbazia18. With the beginning of the fascist movement and soon a fascist regime, many Jewish members of Israel community were forced to leave or were even secretly converted into the Protestants. Astonishing testimony of the secretary of the Jewish community in Abbazia, Nathan Bernardo, reveals touching and dramatic period of the growth and
forced decay of Jewish community. Opatija (Abbazia) was famous even for the religious tourism from the very beginning, both for protestant and Jewish people. At the beginning the congregations took place in the rented hotel ballrooms for both religions, but after the Evangelic church was opened, Jewish community sought a solution that a synagogue should be built, too. Although there was a plan and a project made by architect Angyal, due to the modest donations, the synagogue moved in a building that in the past like today was Croatian Cultural Home Zora, from 1928 to 1944. During the World War Two and even before, many citizens of Jewish origin were arrested, deported and killed, or have died in the Holocaust, disastrous genocide mass execution in the concentration camps all over the Europe. Also the local people suffered awful consequences of the fascist-Nazi regime. But the history of the Jewish community is strongly connected to the enlightment of further details regarding the third cemetery
Skerbici, since the Jewish community requested several times municipal council to build their own burial parcel within the zone of the new municipal cemetery. They finally bought 3000 square meters of the municipal parcel, and according to Nathan's testimonial, the ground was made of the hardest karst morphology kind, therefore quite hard to handle it (which is indicator for the whole area of today's cemetery).
The first Jewish field, situated on the left, western, upper side of the cemetery, was finished at 1912, and the first person buried in was Henriete Kadish. The Jewish tombs, like the entrance to the same ground, have a divided entrance, but nevertheless it is within the complex of the today's cemetery called Opatija.
The main key monument stands above the steps and entrance of the Jewish cemetery, the jewel of Opatija's history; it is the altar like monument, revealed at the ceremony on the1st May of 1955.; in its concept this is the Holocaust
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commemorative monument, but at the same time, it is strongly connected to the sacred memorabilia of the Israel community of Abbazia as important artefact, since the pieces of the altar saved from the former synagogue, with sacred medallion at the bottom of it, were put back together.
The cemetery Opatija, in the period of last few decades was managed first by the Municipal Funeral Service (1945 – 1976.), and later on under the management of municipal company Komunalac Opatija. Only at 1976the cemetery finally got the possibility to built the fridge-storage mortuary, while the new enlargement of its field's capacity begun after 1985., project which included the widening and building of the right upper levels of cemetery. So far, in these last decades, 6 platforms were built there, part of which stand for the temporary tombs. In one of the last reports from the main manager of the cemetery Opatija to the city council, he emphasises the problem of the low capacity of the cemetery, which today has 1434 burial places. Another disturbing fact deals with the new trend of the standards of building the body of the tomb, that is, the possible monument or equipment above the burial frame. Although the marble stands as a more solid material, and is mostly easy to maintain, there is something too uniform-like in these new tombs - although they meet the standards, it clearly disconnects the karst sculptural tradition. This brings us to once again cherish
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the old part of the cemetery, where we can see intriguing tomb concepts, especially one made by famous sculptor Ivan Rendic, some of them dedicated to famous and respectable, recognised persons and families who have their tombs there.
The monumental symmetrically curved wing-entrance holds the inscription of the year 1903. But since we had no traces of the original project (likewise the „capella mortuaria� of Saint Michael), according to other architectural monuments in a wider region like Rijeka and Lovran, it is most probably that the complex was made by architect and sculptor Giovanni (Ivan) Rubinich.
The expressive diversity of tomb monuments made from the gray karst stone gives the touch of the exceptional beauty of the main field in the cemetery. Because of the further social and demographic inevitable changes, the former division of the confessional fields, except for the mysterious like Jewish cemetery, are almost disembodied. The reasons are quite complex and require space in another analysis or article. Due to the hard times of global recession, it would be wise to revaluate the old rules of municipal cemetery, when the main doors were closed during the night, preventing the eventual vandalism. Unfortunately, the tomb with no successors was sold within the last years, and most of the karst monuments were simply thrown away.
Because of the further social and demographic inevitable changes, the former division of the confessional fields, except for the mysterious like Jewish cemetery, are almost disembodied
Conclusion: The future strategy for the cemetery of Opatija is revocation and relocation of the history and it's artefacts into the cultural and touristic promotion, as the good example of the summed complex of social, political and religious history of Opatija, the city that should be known also for its funeral past, monuments and the nurture the inherited multiculturalism, within the wide circle of the European Union. Bibliography:
Archive documents: • DAR JU 30, Inventory of the municipality VoloscoAbbazia:(1850-1914), Category IV, 3.2.3.5., Category X (Parish churches and cemeteries), State Archives in Rijeka (DAR Rijeka), http://www.riarhiv.hr/english /fond_zoom.asp?signatura=29 , 2010-2014 • Inventory of the archive of the municipal cemetery of the City of Opatija, Funeral Services:1936-2014, Komunalac.o.o., Opatija, 20102014 Books: • Zakošek, Boris: 2005, Opatijski album, dugo stoljece jednog ljecilista, State Archives in Rijeka DAR, Rijeka • Tomašić Leonard:1963., History of Opatija, State Archives in Rijeka, Rijeka • Žigulić, Roberto: 2008., Status Animarium book of the parish Veprinac 1875-1925, I., State
Archives in Rijeka, Rijeka • Žigulić, Roberto, 2011., Status Animarium book of the parish Veprinac 1875-1925, II., Hrvatsko književno drštvo, 201, page 5-49 • Kostelac, Melinda, 2009. History of the watersupply and sewage in Liburnia – 125 years of the history of the liburnian watersupply and 105 years of the sewage, Komunalac d.o.o., Opatija • Varoius,1974. Liburnijske teme, book 1, Katedra cakavskog sabora Opatija, Opatija Articles: • Gottardi, Sauro, 1991., Gli Evangelici di Fiume e Abbazia, in: La Rivista Semestrale „Fiume“, Societa di studi fiumani, Anno X, no 21. pages 48-63 • Katičić, Radoslav: 2006.,Perunovo svetište nad Mošćenicama u svjetlu toponimije i topografije, Zbornik Općine Mošćenice, year 3, no 3, Katedra Čakavskog sabora Mošćenička Draga, Mošćenička Draga, page 49 Links/articles: • Nathan, Bernardo, 1963., Memories of the Jewish community in Abbazia, Archive of Jewish History Museum, Belgrade (ed. Association of Jewish Youth Rijeka SIMHA): http://www.makabijada.com/ dopis/opatija.htm, 2013. • Corovic, Vladimir, Prilog proucavanju nacina sahranjivanja i podizanja nadgrobnih spomenika u
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nasim krajevima u srednjem vijeku: http://www.fmks.gov.ba/down load/zzs/1956/8-1956.pdf 2013 Catasti francescani, 1872., Archivio di Stato di trieste, digital maps: http://www.catasti.archiviodis tatotrieste.it/Divenire/index.ht m , 2012. http://www.guidagenerale.ma ss.ccr.it
Footnotes:
1 Radoslav Katicic reveals the case of toponim at the mountain of Ucka as Slavenian mythological cult landmark, in his article Perunovo svetiste nad Moscenicama u svjetlu toponomije i topografije, see Katicic, Radoslav, page 49 2 See Zakosek, the book essay, pages 9-90 3 At the beggining of the tourism in Opatija, the crucial number being 1884. Abbazia had 1749. Visitors, while by 1900. The tourists number went up to 16400, see Kosteac, page 303 4 The admnistrative jurisdiction during the Austrian Monarchy at that period of time was in Trieste, the official language for the region of Markgrofovia Istra being italian, and the name of the Trieste headquarters was Luogotenenza litorale di Trieste, see link: http://www.guidagenerale.mass.c cr.it 5 The location before the today's Art Pavillion Juraj Sporer is the park ground, behind the most famous sculpture touristic simbol,
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The Nymphea – Greetings to the Sea, made in 1956. by Zvonimir Car. 6 Liburnia is the common name for the East coast and it's surroundings of the semiisland Istra, named according to the people Liburnians, who were living and governing the coastal part of today's Croatia and were assimilated later on by Roman Empire, see Various, Liburnijske teme 7 The famous Lungomare was bulit in three phases, and has today 12 chilometers, but the first part was built in 1899. For the simple purpose of resolving the austerity of the carst waterfront morphology. It was built by initiative ot the Austrian Tourist Club, and the Society for enbeautiment of the resort of Abbazia, headed by Julius Glax. The suothern, second part of lungomare from Opatija to Lovran was finished at 1911., see link: http://www.opatija-tourism.hr 8 In fact, according to the statal statistics, Opatija broke the record in number of the tourist right during Jugoslavia, at 1988. With 438.303 tourist per year, see Kostelac, page 303 9 See Zakosek, Boris, page 990 10 See Zakosek Boris, page 9-90 11 See Zakosek, page 22 12 See link http://www.makabijada.com/dopi s/opatija.htm 13 See Zigulic, book I., pages 1088 14 It is that in the various archive documents of the Statal Archive in Rijeka, particulary one concerning the building of the
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municipal cemetery of Lovran, reveal such a treatment in a parish cemeteries. 15 The region of higher political jurisdiction other than municipalities was Rayon des politischen Bezirks Volosca, the administrative-political region within the Markgrofovia Istra with it's political jurisdiction in Trieste (today Italia) 16 See Zakosek, the book catalogue, page 337 17 The testimony of the secretary of the Tennis Club Opatija at that time, Vera Kucic, helped to trace the reconstruction of the tennis field, while others testimonies of the citizens, prove it is not some kind of urban leggend. 18 Formal name of the city of Opatija in the time of the Italian government from 1929. To 1945.
Muriel Perrin-Ghys Les Amis du Musée Funéraire
The project “Timeless walk in Cimetière du Nord ”
National
Abstract: Description of the project “Timeless walk in Cimetière du Nord” (North Cemetery, Rennes), in order to enhance and protect the funerary heritage of Rennes cemeteries. In this way, the city acknowledges its own funeray heritage and makes it known by the population throw a two year project and the organization of an exhibition. Keywords: Funeray heritage; Exhibition; Cemetière du Nord; Rennes; Enhancement. Les Amis du Musée Funéraire National – Paris France Over the last 25 years, our
association was interested in every project of protection of the funeral heritage. More and more the cities are getting aware of the value of this funeral heritage. The city of Rennes has started a significant process of information: website, exhibition, funeral route… We would like to encourage this city in their process, as they are in process of asking to be member of ASCE. Description of the project “Timeless walk in Cimetière du Nord” (North cemetery)
Among the cemeteries in Rennes, the North Cemetery is the oldest. It is the place where, since 18th century, are resting for ever the
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Rennes inhabitants who participated to the evolution of the capital city of Brittany: architects, sculptors, politicians, painters, church ministers, notabilities and traders under the shade of the yew trees, cypresses, sequoias and pine trees.
In order to save this heritage and make it known by population, especially Rennais1, the city of Rennes has started for two years an enhancement and optimization project of the cemeteries of the city.
This project includes several parts:
• Continuity of the inventory of the funeral heritage, which started in 2012.
• Restoring of significant graves which are at present in a
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state of dereliction and converting them into columbarium or urn graves, in the frame of a first experimentation on a chapel which was taken back by Rennes city.
• Valorisation of the heritage in a permanent exhibition at the Cimetière du Nord presenting the main personalities of Rennes buried there, called "Balade Intemporelle du Cimetière du Nord" (Timeless walk in North Cemetery). Presentation of the Timeless walks in North Cemetery
La Balade Intemporelle du Cimetière du Nord offers the possibility the history of Rennes city through the prominent personalities at their time. A timeless space at the hart of a
moving city, this necropolis perpetuates the Rennais’ memory, such as an open-air museum.
From the entrance gate of the Cimetière du Nord, a sign presents the history of the place and of the funeral chapel of the 19th century that shows the entrance.
After the entrance dome, a second sign offers a plan of the site, indicating the localisation of the graves marking out the route of the Timeless Walk, and an initiation to the funeral symbols that can be seen here and there inside the cemetery.
The visitor is so invited to follow the materialized pathway with some twenty boards settled close to each grave. One can find, from a text and an image, the life and the
noticeable events of the personality presented in regard to his local or national influence. Furthermore, a brochure called « Balade Intemporelle du Cimetière du Nord » is offered at the welcome desk of the site. It shows the plan, the indications on the boards, and develops the initiation to the funeral symbols.
On both panels located at the entrance of the place and in the brochure, a question/answers code sends back the to virtual visit of the cemeteries of Rennes, in order to extend an deepen the discovery of the cemeteries in place for the smart phones and digital tablets. This virtual visit, on top of the North Cemetery, also includes the East Cemetery, another necropolis of Rennes, more recent and more extended. The visit offers a total of
55 prominent personalities at their time. Goals:
The Timeless Walk aims to:
• Enhance the Rennes’ funeral heritage through the discovery of the personalities buried in the North Cemetery and their grave.
• Make visitors aware of how rich is the history of the cemetery, which is little known by the populations.
• To offer to Rennais to discover the history of their town under an unusual scope, with this open-air museum. • To promote the knowledge of the funeral symbols used at the 18th and 19th century, which
forgotten today. • To aim population as:
several
kind
of
o People interested in the history of the city, or to funeral heritage. o People and families living in Rennes. o Professionals such as historians, genealogists, students… o French or Foreign tourists.
• To allow, with the link between the Walk and the virtual visit of Rennes cemeteries, to develop two levels of reading: o A first level of reading is materialized at the North Cemetery by the Balade Intemporelle (Timeless
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Walk), whose boards; the boards are in harmony with the surrounding area, remaining discreet. The information aim to raise the interest of the visitors without disturbing the families’ meditation and the funerals.
o A second level of reading is then offered with the questions/anwers code giving access to the virtual walk in Rennes cemeteries on Internet. It offers the possibility to discovering more in details the personalities buries in Rennes, and to get detailed information about their history.
• Have a European influence through a membership to A.S.C.E also having the North and the East cemeteries in the “European route of cemeteries”.
department of Rennes Métropole Projet manager, in order to present the targer in an exhibition, being advised with the skilled professionals able to set up this project (panels and board). October 2013: the selected pros are “JP Création Graphique” (graphics) in Rennes and “Elite Enseigne” (signs) in Angers. A list of 19 personalities is selected. November 2013: validation of the list of personalities of the “Balade Intemporelle du Cimetière du Nord” timeless walk in North cemetery.
After several months of work with all the team including the pros, the city archives, the Museum of Brittany, Museum of fine Arts in Rennes... the exhibition opened in Cimetière du Nord and the signs and brochures regarding the “timeless walk in North cemetery” are now a reality.
Steps of the process
Web sites
March 2012: start of the inventory of the Rennes funeral heritage at Cimetière du Nord (North Cemetery) collecting information about the buried personalities, architectural survey of the significant funeral monuments. September 2013: presentation of the valuation of the Rennes funeral heritage to the elected representatives of Rennes city, especially the timeless walk in the North Cemetery “Balade Intemporelle du Cimetière du Nord”. Following their agreement they contacted the communication
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http://metropole.rennes.fr/ http://metropole.rennes.fr/act ualites/lesthemes/culture/descimetieres-charges-d-histoire/ http://www.visitesvirtuelles.m etropole.rennes.fr/cimetieresr ennais/nord.html http://www.visitesvirtuelles.m etropole.rennes.fr/cimetieresr ennais/est.html
Footnotes:
1
Rennais habitants of the city of Rennes.
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