Impresión sangria 3 mm Cemiterio de Pereiró.pdf 1 27/10/2015 10:01:57
History of the cemetery In the last quarter of the 19th century, considerable prosperity came to Vigo. Ships regularly linked the town with Havana, Buenos Aires and Puerto Rico; Ourense and Vigo had been linked by the railway since 1881; new landfills made it possible to enlarge the port facilities, and the salt beds and other industries were in expansion, changing the urban landscape. In 1880, the Vigo Savings Bank came into being, and increasingly ambitious buildings were raised along the streets. The population rose to 15,000 inhabitants and the death rate at that time was from 300 to 350 per annum. The two municipal cemeteries had become unusable. The Picacho Cemetery only covered 4,600 square metres, and in the Santiago Cemetery the locals refused to bury their dead because the tombstones sank in its swampy land. For these reasons, in 1889, the municipal corporation began procedures to set up a new, modern, hygienic cemetery. The difficult task was to find free land due to the population density. Finally, the decision was taken for Pereiró, in the parish of Santa María de Castrelos. A rectangular area covering 250 by 260 metres for a cemetery occupying 67,750 square metres, 43,652 of which were for pantheons, ordinary tombs, common graves and a civil cemetery, divided into straight line squares separated by wide, wooded paths. One hundred and twenty one expropriations were made and 38,604 pesetas were paid out for them, with a total budget for the cemetery of 98,691.84 pesetas. The Town Council opened the cemetery in 1898 and soon the first burial took place: of a boy, José Rodríguez Rodríguez, aged 11. The prosperous bourgeoisie built splendid pantheons and temples, and soon brought the remains of their family members buried in the Picacho Cemetery. Here historic personages found rest, such as Concepción Arelal, José García Barbón, politicians, leading canning sector industrialists, etcetera. And numerous humble people who, with their work, forged the destiny of the town’s port and manufacturing, as well as this cemetery, which is part of its history.
Funerary art C
Funerary sculptures
Detail of the funerary monument by Gil and Sarabia
M
The pantheons and funerary monuments in the Pereiró Cemetery are an interesting artistic whole. Commissioned by the more well-to-do families in the town (or covered by popular initiative) to well-known architects such as Jenaro de la Fuente – who was responsible for the project of the new cemetery in 1897 – Manuel Gómez Román or Francisco Castro; to stonemasons such as José Fernández, known as Pepiño Fainichos, an artist of the years prior to the Civil War; and to sculptors such as Francisco Asorey and Henry Godet. These are eclectic constructions, neo-classical, modernist or neo-Gothic in inspiration, leaving the aesthetic taste of each era and personage.
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Pereiró Cemetery Detail of the pantheon by Cesáreo González Rodríguez The two towns live together in the tranquility of respect. With the embellished sadness By the tree or f low That aesthetically line The park, where they sleep And dream, perhaps along with us, Those sick in the darkness, The beloved structures of old ancestors. All people have two towns One of the bright, luminous life And the life of irreversible silence Of eternity. María do Carmo Kruckenberg
Period funeral car In 1938, the Town Council purchased two Dodge Rams to convert them into funeral cars. Each one cost the town 20,000 pesetas, and one is still in perfect conditions.
Guided visits can be arranged: turismodevigo.org