World Cemeteries
Saint John the Baptist Cemetery (Rio de Janeiro , Brazil)
The cemetery of St. John the Baptist (port. Cemitério de São João Batista) is an urban necropolis located in the southeastern part of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in the Botafogu region. History: Founded on December 4, 1852, the first burial took place on this day. Over the course of several years, about 5 hundred people were buried in the cemetery. Now, in 2020, there are about 30 thousand graves in the cemetery, in which about 70 thousand people are buried, most of them are Catholics. This cemetery, the only one in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro, is a huge labyrinth of tombs, crypts and sculptures. Many architectural and artistic styles are mixed in the cemetery. On the territory of more than 18 hectares, neoclassicism, eclecticism, neo-gothic and art deco merged together. Here are buried Brazilian presidents, famous artists, musicians, athletes and military personnel. Hundreds, if not thousands of graves are located close to each other between the aisles, forming a real labyrinth in which you can get lost. Due to its historical and artistic significance, the Saint John the Baptist Cemetery is considered a tourist attraction in Rio de Janeiro and part of the city's cultural exposition. Many monuments have QR codes (2D barcodes that can be scanned with smartphones) showing the history of a person buried there.
