Cementiri de Palma: Memento Mori

On All Saints’ Day people make their way to the cemetery. Following the tradition of visiting deceased family members and other loved ones. Many lay flowers on the graves and in front of the tombs, honoring the memory. Looking back to remember, at the same time foreseeing their own future. The Cementiri de Palma is a city of silence which you can visit any time of year.

Size and architecture of Palma’s central cemetery alone are overwhelming. So is the wealth of details. Take your time and have a look at the beautiful stone angels. Are they grieving or full of hope? Maybe both.

Notice the small portraits of the dead on the tombstones. The family graves marked as propiedad, which translates into property as well as into estate, family home. The names no less familiar, many of them common and well-known in the city for centuries.

The Catacombs

With the colorful bouquets of flowers under the autumn sky the cemetery looks beautiful, actually. But when you walk down the steps and venture into the semi-darkness of the catacombs, you enter another world. Little light penetrates through the holes in the ceiling. Many of the tombs are derelict, but there are candles and flowers among them, defying the darkness.

The Cementiri de Palma was founded in 1821 when a severe plague ravaged the island and the municipality decided to bury the dead outside the city limits. Over the years, the central cemetery grew rapidly.

Gaspar Bennàzar

One of the most important extensions was designed by Palma’s master builder Gaspar Bennàzar. He remodeled the layout of the first sector with the chapel. After his death, he was laid to rest in a magnificent mausoleum that represents his architectural style in detail.

Legend has it that in the hour of triumph Roman generals were reminded of their mortality by a slave standing behind them. This memento mori may ensure a certain humility, at the very least it emphasizes that every moment is irretrievable. Thus, the awareness of mortality makes a cemetery a place of life rather than death.