Buenos Aires: Cementerio de la Recoleta – tumba del Dr. Toribio de Ayerza
Dr. Toribio de Ayerza (1815-1884) was a physician trained in Madrid and Paris, who arrived in Argentina in 1845 and brought with him the trachaetomy, which proved instrumental in treating children with diphtheria. Ayerza also founded the Argentine Red Cross with Guillermo Rawson in 1880 and the Laurak-Bat, a Basque club with a restaurant.
The monument was designed by Miguel Sansebastiano. Surrounding the crowning bust of Dr. Ayerza are an angel of pain and a figure of Charity–the latter sheltering two children.
La Cementerio de la Recoleta (Recoleta Cemetery), set in 5.5 hectares or the equivalent of about four city blocks, has more than 350,000 people buried in an estimated 4,7000 vaults–all above ground, and many of which have been declared National historical Monuments. Many of the elaborate marble mausoleums are decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Neo-Gothic The cemetery was inaugurated under the name Cementerio del Norte (Northern Cemetery) on November 17, 1822, around Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the church and convent built in 1732 and abandoned in 1822 by the monks of the Order of the Recoletos. The original 1822 layout was designed by architect and civil engineer Próspero Catelin, and an 1881 remodeleing was handled by Italian architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo.
