Beltrí, nuns and a cemetery
Cartagena is loaded with Art Nouveau buildings and Victor Beltri was the architect behind a good number of the best ones. 2012 will be the 150th anniversary of his birth and there is a committee organising events to celebrate his life and works. The cemetery or Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios is on the outskirts of Cartagena. It was put there, far away from the town centre, so that the stench of rotting flesh didn't upset anyone important. I don't suppose that cemeteries are a hygiene risk anymore but if they were I suspect nobody would care too much as the neighbourhood closest to the cemetery looks like it's full of poor people. Poor people and drug dealers we were told. There was a lot of mining money in Cartagena at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th Century. Rich and powerful families were keen to have tombs that showed their wealth. Many of them employed Beltri to build their mausoleums. Then there was a bit of an economic crash and lots ...