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Recoleta Cemetery from a Mason's point of view

Karin Dhadamus
Apr 10, 2016
3 min read

It rains, it rains a lot these days in BA. Could this be the El Nino effect? I trust it is and that the rain is over soon. Yet, in between two rain showers, I join a free tour of the Recoleta Cemetery seen from a mason's point of view. Daniel Pena, a mason himself, volunteers for the Greeters of the Cicerones.

I have visited the cemetery at least twenty times. Little did I know of the symbolic wonders that lay behind.

Built in 1822 on the former gardens of the Convent and Church of the Order of the Recoletas under the then Governor Martin Rodriguez, the Cemetery marked a major change in the way people were buried. The Spanish method where the dead are buried underground made way for a more prestigious form of being 'buried' in a mausoleum. Today about 350 000 people are thought being buried here in a bit less than 5000 vaults. Some vaults have up to 7 floors underground. The cemetery counts 2800 statues, all of world class artistic value. It is generally believed that amongst the 'famous & fortunate' people who rest here is Napoleon's grandchild from his natural son.

Wikipedia does not mention a single word on the masonic importance of the Recoleta cemetery. Yet, a blind person standing in front of its entrance gate could not be fooled.

Under the Latin words " REQUIESCANT IN PACE" ( may they rest in peace ) and above the 4 white marble Doric columns embracing 3 black gates, sit 13 mandalas. It underlies the importance of the number "13" , a number you also get by adding up 1 + 8 + 2 + 2 = 13 of the founding year.

One enters the cemetery through the middle of three trapezium shaped gates. This geometrical figure is a hidden triangle and symbolizes the secret or hidden wisdom, facts, truth... Three steps lead you to the entrance hall. "3" once again is a very important number in free masonry as number 3 refers to the three grades to pass to become a mason. As most of its symbols and instruments, the number "3" derives from Egyptian mythology based on its three deities. This explains why most of the vaults with three steps at its entrance can be assigned to a masonic family or person of influence.

Perhaps the most prestigious vault is the one where Sarmiento, writer, activist, politician and Argentina's 7th two-time president ( 1868-74) has been laid to rest. A great masonic Master himself, his vault carries all the symbols:

there is the condor, the obelisk, Hermes, the triangle, the two snakes and the chain with its rectangular elements; the compas and the three-dotted abbreviation ( words that should only be understood for insiders set as a hidden code ) A.L.G.D.G.A.D.U... ' A la Gloria del Gran Arquitecto del Universo ).

The most controversial vault is by no doubt the one belonging to the "Sociedad Cientifica Argentina".

Jesus stands in front of the three-step entrance blocking as if he were prohibiting the ignorant from entering. He is dressed as a greek though he never visited that region. The vault is controversial as well for the fact that it is Jesus himself being represented as the messenger.

Chavez' vault is one of the two with electrical light on the inside and a bell. All to prevent he would be buried alive.

On the cemetery no element nor decorative detail exists by accident. It is all there for a reason. Take the vault of Admiral Brown, founder of the Argentine marine, as an example. His tombe is all painted green , the Irish colours as a reference to his place of birth. Tomas Guido, General San Martin's best friend; his grave is built with rough stone, the symbol 'par excellence' of free masonry; a leaning cross, stating the buried is a Cristian but also something else than that. A mason, of course.