When I was doing preliminary research for my trip to South America last year, I was shocked to find out that a cemetery, of all places, was listed among the top tourist attractions in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Specifically Recoleta Cemetery where, to be fair, Eva Perón is buried.
Even if you can’t sing the soundtrack to “Evita” in your sleep like I can, Recoleta Cemetery is a fabulous place to spend a morning or afternoon in Buenos Aires — it’s like a small city in and of itself. Plus, for all the bravado surrounding the former first lady and her memory, Evita’s burial plot is surprisingly small, considering how grand the rest of Recoleta Cemetery is.
The Quest for Evita
Recoleta Cemetery is nothing short of a city for the dead
I’m not going to lie: The primary reason I visited Recoleta Cemetery was because I wanted to see Eva Perón’s tomb. Now I wasn’t a super-fan of the movie or musical by any means, nor do I particularly like Madonna or Andrew Lloyd Weber. Still, I could sing “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” before I knew basically anything else about Argentina (I was 11 when the movie came out), so seeing Evita’s tomb was an important part of my first visit to Argentina.
Once I entered into the incredible Recoleta Cemetery, however, Evita was the furthest thing from my mind. Recoleta Cemetery is a proverbial city of the dead, many of its larger tombs more like houses and apartment blocks than grave markers. It’s grand in a way that’s different from the upmarket Recoleta neighborhood, but is just as breathtaking. I mean, who expects a cemetery to be incredible? Well I kind of do, having seen the Chinese Cemetery in Manila and all. But you don’t, do you?
Getting to Recoleta Cemetery
Allow yourself to get lost in Recoleta Cemetery, and explore the finer details
Recoleta Cemetery is located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the city’s swankiest. Recoleta’s broad, tree-lined boulevards are among the most European in the so-called “Paris of the South,” its sidewalk cafés and bistros among the most charming (and, not surprisingly, the most expensive) in Argentina’s capital. Recoleta Cemetery is the final resting place for wealthy Argentinians, so it makes sense that the cemetery is in the place where they all most likely lived.
Recoleta Cemetery is located literally 10 minutes’ walking time from Retiro terminal, the busiest bus station in the world and the place where you’re likely to arrive in and depart Buenos Aires, if you travel South America by bus. The area around Retiro station is pretty sketchy, so ask the least sketchy-looking person how to get to the cemetery. From elsewhere in Buenos Aires you can either take a taxi, or take the Buenos Aires Subte (Metro) to either Retiro or Callao.
Recoleta Cemetery Guided Tours
Recoleta Cemetery is not surprisingly home to its fair share of gaudiness
Guided tours of Recoleta Cemetery are available if you want insight into the lives of non-Evita people who are buried in the cemetery. You can book Recoleta Cemetery tours in advance at your hotel or hostel or, if you prefer, at the entrance to the cemetery. Although Recoleta Cemetery costs nothing to enter, it has a tourist information booth. You shouldn’t pay a random person who approaches you to give you a tour, as they are likely a scammer who may or may not give you accurate information.
I didn’t personally take a tour, because I visited Recoleta Cemetery literally hours before my bus to Iguazú Falls departed Retiro terminal. Rather, I ooh-ed and aah-ed my own way through the cemetery’s sprawling 14 acres. I laughed as one overly gaudy tomb marker out-tackied the one I saw before it. I felt joyful as I navigated Recoleta Cemetery’s rows and columns. I felt joyful in a f*cking cemetery!
So, Where Is Evita Anyway?
This plaque is basically all that remains of Eva Perón
Oh yeah, back to Evita. So where in Recoleta Cemetery is Eva Perón buried? It might come as a shock, but her tomb is neither conspicuous nor particularly large. Although she is without a doubt Argentina’s most ubiquitous pop culture export, she isn’t necessarily popular in Argentina — the “Peronism” ideology is these days associated with the authoritarianism that overtook Argentina in the wake of both Peróns’ deaths. D’oh!
Geographically, Evita’s tomb is located in the southeast quadrant of Recoleta Cemetery.
I don’t remember the exact row — a tour guide will be happy to help you find it, even if you don’t take a tour with her — but if you want to see Evita first thing when you enter Recoleta Cemetery, turn left immediately after you enter from Avenida Junin and find her from there.
Robert Schrader is a travel writer and photographer who’s been roaming the world independently since 2005, writing for publications such as “CNNGo” and “Shanghaiist” along the way. His blog, Leave Your Daily Hell, provides a mix of travel advice, destination guides and personal essays covering the more esoteric aspects of life as a traveler.
