Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón, Havana, Cuba

I went to Cuba in 1976. It was something that only tourists from Canada and Iron Curtain countries were able to do at the time. We stayed at Veradero which was still largely undeveloped, with some of the villas abandoned and still empty since the exodus after the revolution. We visited the Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. It was SPECTACULAR and was the first richly ornate cemetery I had ever seen. Here are just a few examples from my slides of the trip.

The chapel as it looked in 1976, before the influx of tourists.

The chapel in 2006. (photo by Dirk van der Made)

I wish I could go back and rephotograph more of this amazing place. With the saturated blue skies and the lush tropical vegetation, it seemed so alive compared to the grey Paris cemeteries....