Identity

Inside the Cemetery Where the Dead Don’t Rest in Peace

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This article originally appeared on VICE Belgium.

Asunción – the capital of Paraguay, or to lay some respect on its full name, Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (Very Noble and Loyal City of Our Lady Saint Mary of Assumption) – has a handful of museums and historical sites that don’t take long to visit. That being said, one particular place captured my attention during a recent visit.

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It all started when I was drinking beers at a local bar and overheard people talking about La Recoleta cemetery, which they described as one of the most beautiful graveyards in the city. Interest, piqued. The following day – in 33°C tropical winter weather – I set off with my camera for a walk around this 150-year-old resting place.

A photo of a mausoleum covered in pink stone with a white cross on top.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin

On arrival, I’m immediately immersed into a world of paved little paths lined with splendid mausoleums decorated in colourful ceramic tiles and surrounded with lush green trees. I soon notice that none of the caskets are actually buried in the ground. They are all walled into crypts and mausoleums, exposed for everyone to see behind a glass window. Some of the caskets are covered by a piece of fabric and accompanied by a photo.

As I venture deeper into the entrance of the cemetery, the beauty gives way to a more macabre spectacle. There are vaults in ruin, doors forced open, broken glass and destroyed caskets. Many of them lie half burnt in alleyways, the heat of a fire still emanating from some of them. A little further on, I catch sign of corpses and bones littering the ground. I feel sick.

A photo of two burnt up caskets abandoned in an alleyway and surrounded by ashes.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin

I manage to find two of the cemetery’s guardians, both men, one in his 30s and the other twice his age. The younger guardian tells me it got into this state because of grave looting. At 6PM, when the doors close, people climb the cemetery’s tall walls, light fires to keep warm and cook meals; and begin spoiling the tombs, taking whatever they can. “Jewels, obviously, but also bronze plaques,” the guardian says. Local media reports also mention crosses, vases, metal-plated door handles and even the doors themselves.

Paraguay has been experiencing chronic economic instability and corruption. As it stands, around 27 percent of its population live under the poverty line. The guardians talk about the cemetery’s grim after hours activity with a mix of powerless alarm and amusement.

A photo of caskets stacked in vertical tombs adorned with green mosaic tiles.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin

Despite the frequent looting, people are still regularly buried in Recoleta. A 2019 report by local newspaper ABC quotes a guardian as saying that the cemetery is guarded by 22 guards at a time. However, the cemetery is large and has 13 access gates, which makes it difficult to monitor. In January 2023, the mayor of Asuncíon doubled the city’s burial fees, promising to clean up Recoleta and reinforce its security. But to date, no improvements have been made.

Meanwhile, the families of the dead are struggling with how little the situation has improved. Many of them are opting for less appealing burial materials to deter potential thieves. Others are abandoning the tradition of burying their loved ones above ground altogether, opting instead for other cemeteries in the city where they can lay their loved ones to rest six feet under.

For the newly buried in La Recoleta, resting in peace is, for the time being, out of the question.

Scroll down to see more photos:

A photo of a casket inside a vertical tomb behind a smashed glass panel.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a casket behind a glass window, covered in a piece of lacy white fabric, with a small framed picture depicting two people.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a wooden casket with a hole cut into it through which you can see a skeleton covered in dirt.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of several vertical tombs, many of them open. They are adorned in pink, light blue and green tiles.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of several vertical tombs, many of them open; one is adorned with orange tiles.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a wooden casket opened up with bones spilling out of it.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a large tree growing on top of a mausoleum, its roots embedded in the facade.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a wall of vertical tombs, about half of them are smashed open.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of human bones covered in dirt and leaves, viewed through a smashed window.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of the view from the top of one of the vertical tombs, with the sky in the background.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a baby's casket lying behind an intact glass window with a few small figurines lying next to it.
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of a black and white picture of man, discarded on the ground and covered in dirt
Photo: Aurélien Buttin
A photo of rows of vertical tombs during golden hour
Photo: Aurélien Buttin