The Cemetery of Distinguished Citizens (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, ''Cementerio de los Ilustres'') is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located in

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

and together with the Cemetery of La Barmeja, it forms the Cemetery General in San Salvador. It is the burial place of prominent families of the capital of El Salvador and many outstanding figures from the history of this country.

General

The cemetery was blessed by Bishop Tomás Occeli on August 26, 1849 as the first civil cemetery in El Salvador. This place contains the mausoleum of the president of the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a liberal Central American politician and general who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president ...

, whose remains had been transferred from Costa Rica. However, in 1882, during the administration of President

Rafael Zaldívar Rafael Zaldívar (1834 – 2 March 1903) was President of El Salvador from 1 May 1876 until 21 June 1885, and later a diplomat. Zaldívar studied medicine in Europe and began his career as a physician. In 1860 he was appointed to the Chair of ...

, a second mausoleum of the liberal caudillo was erected, since the first one had been damaged by the earthquake of 1873. The name of the area was changed to “Pantheon of Great Men” in 1913, after the burial of the president

Manuel Enrique Araujo Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor Manuel Enrique Araujo (12 October 1865 – 9 February 1913) was a Salvadoran politician and physician who served as President of El Salvador from 1 March 1911 until his death on 9 February 1913 to his injuries sustain ...

, but over time it ended up being known as “The Distinguished Citizens”. La novia

The cemetery houses various white marble sculptures and mausoleums of artistic value that keep the remains of members of wealthy families in San Salvador. Many of the works were requested abroad, especially in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and made in Europe by artists such as Francisco Durini. Various angel figures are found in different poses; religious scenes such as The Pietà; some of the monumental size and others with peculiar characteristics denote the status of the family or the life history of the deceased. Many of them have become part of the landscape of the place and popular memory. Among them it is worth mentioning the figure of

Luperca ''Luperca'' is a genus of ground beetles in the family Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 ...

breastfeeding Romulo and Remus in the mausoleum of the ''Assistenza Italiana'' (popularly called "The She-Wolf"). And another famous one, “The Bride”, is a sculpture by Lidia S. Cristales de López, who died in 1924, six months after their marriage. Some of the most important graves are: * Enrico Massi *

Gerardo Barrios José Gerardo Barrios Espinoza (September/October 1813 – 29 August 1865) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador on three occasions between June 1858 and his overthrow in October 1863. Born in 1 ...

(National Monument) * Salvador Mendieta *

Arturo Ambrogi Arturo Ambrogi (1874 – 1936 in San Salvador, El Salvador) was a writer and journalist, considered one of the pioneers of Salvadoran literature, along with Francisco Gavidia and Alberto Masferrer. Ambrogi's narrative was influenced by romance ...

Alfredo Espino Alfredo Espino (30 January 1900 – 24 May 1928), also known as (), was a Salvadoran poet known for his posthumous anthology of 96 poems, (), which has become one of the most well known poetic works in El Salvador. His poetry has been described ...

Benjamin Bloom Benjamin Samuel Bloom (February 21, 1913 – September 13, 1999) was an American educational psychology, educational psychologist and Didactic method, didactician who made contributions to the classification of educational objectives and to ...

Schafik Hándal Schafik Jorge Hándal Hándal (; October 14, 1930 – January 24, 2006) was a Salvadoran politician. Biography Born in Usulután, he was the son of Palestinian immigrants from the town of Bethlehem. Between 1973 and 1994, he was the general sec ...

Roberto d'Aubuisson Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta (; 23 August 1943 – 20 February 1992) was a Salvadoran military officer, neo-fascist politician, and death squad leader. In 1981, he co-founded and became the first leader of the far-right Nationalist Republican ...

* Salvador Salazar Arrué, "''Salarrué''" *

Agustín Barrios Mangoré Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín Adorni (born 1990), Argentine footballer * Agustín Allione (born 1994), Argentine footballer * Ag ...

(National Monument) *

Morena Celarié Morena Celarié (b. April 20, 1922 – d. April 22, 1972) was a Salvadoran folk dancer. She was born in San Salvador and began her dancing career at a young age. Celarié performed throughout the Western world and founded a folk dancing school i ...

Jacobo Árbenz Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th president of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, before he became the secon ...

(buried between 1971 and 1995, later repatriated to Guatemala)

Gallery

File:Avion en tumba.JPG, Tomb of Enrico Massi File:La loba mausoleum.JPG, "Mausoleum of the Asistenzza Italiana, The she-wolf feeding Romulo and Remo" File:Mayan motives tomb.JPG, Tomb with Mayan motives File:Los gemelos.JPG, "The Twins" File:Moto en tumba.JPG, Motorcycle on top of a grave File:Angel head on hand.JPG, Angel in a meditative pose File:Morazan mausoleum.JPG, Tomb of Francisco Morazán File:Tomb oriental style.JPG, Tomb with Arabic motifs File:Roberto d'Aubuisson.JPG, Tomb of Roberto d'Aubuisson File:Masferrer tomb.JPG, Tomb of Alberto Masferrer

References

External links

Assembly Studies Declaration, Cemetery of Distinguished Citizens, National Monument

A walk among Distinguished CitizensCarmen Molina Tamacas (2004), The dead man is mine (The sculptures and the mausoleum that watches over his sleep as well)

Edgardo Quintanilla, Mangoré and the Party Colorado
{{coord, 13, 41, 41, N, 89, 11, 57, W, region:AR-C_type:landmark, display=title Cemeteries in El Salvador Buildings and structures in San Salvador