The Poblenou Cemetery: a Journey into the History of Barcelona

Why Cemeteries are so important? They are important because visiting them will help you to know the history of the city and the nature of its people, since they represent the heritage of a place.

In this case The Poblenou Cemetery (in Catalán “Cementiri de Poblenou”) is the most ancient cemetery of Barcelona. It is located in Poblenou district in Barcelona and it is an authentic open air museum waiting for a restoration necessary to preserve its artistic and historical richness.

Historically it was conceived as a solution to the  unhealthiness of the parish graves present inside the city. It was inaugurated in 1775, but destroyed few years later by the Napoleonic troops. In 1813, it was request to a young Italian architect, Antonio Ginesi, to build the outdoor area.
The Neoclassical style reflects the tastes and the political aspiration of the new emerging classes of the city,  the businessman and the indianas manufactures. In 1821 it was used in almost its totality, due to a terrible epidemics of cholera which caused thousands of dead.

Since its inauguration the Cemetery has had a lot of modifications and amplification: the most important one was in 1849, where Joan Nolla build the open area of the pantheons where is concentrated the majority of the works of well-known architects and sculptors of the time. In this new space is evident the will of the new Barcelonan bourgeoisie to exhibit their social prestige.



Apart from the artist values, a cemetery is important also because is the witness of the historical and social processes that marked the evolution of the city. You could see the ideals and the ambitions of its citizens. Besides, you could see not only the success of the new businessman, but also the misery of the poor, relegated to a common part with very modest graves.

You should know in fact that in 1854 the was the fall of the city’s wall and the consequentially expansion of the urban city. Such event symbolized the strengthen of the Barcelonan bourgeoisie which is visible in the Pantheon area, where the will of social and cultural differentiation can be noticed.

In the Cemetery there are the graves of a lot of men and women relevant for the history of Barcelona, such as the businessman Bonaplata, the men who first construct the steam loom in Spain and imported the new one from England, the engineer Narcís Monturiol, who invented the first submarine,  the novelist Narcís Oller, the most important catalan realist and naturalist writer of the period.

Besides, you could see also a lot of people awarded for their social virtues. Indeed, the popular Barcelona has its heroes. Some of them lost their lives helping ill people during epidemics, such as doctors, others fought to defend freedom during the Napoleonic invasion. However, the most popular “hero” is Francesc Canals Ambrós, known as “el Santet”(the Saint). He was a young man of modest origins which was well-known for his goodness and charity. After his dead, at 22 years old, became object of popular religious devotion. The “Santet” cult is still practiced nowadays.

Impressing is not only the amount of flowers and gifts left near to its grave, but also the numerous piece of paper, postcards, or sheets put inside the case of his grave to ask him for graces or just to thank to him for a received grace.






Nevertheless, despite the fact that important monument and works of art are present, the cemetery is still almost unknown also to Barcelonans. Undoubtedly this is due also to the abandonment suffered during decades. Fortunately, this tendency was reversed in the last years thanks to the Funeral Services of Barcelona which are aware of the artist value of the cemetery.

The municipality organized twice per month guided free tour visits, both in Catalan and Castellan on Sunday morning, for more information visit the official website: http://www.cbsa.es/