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Famous graves in Recoleta Cemetery
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Get a seatPresidents, independence heroes, writers and a Nobel laureate share these alleys. This guide to the famous graves in Recoleta Cemetery says who they were and how to find them.
Editorial team, recoletacemeterytour.click · Updated November 9, 2026 · A 7 min read
Main facts
- How manyMore than 200 figures of Argentine history.1
- Most visitedEvita, Sarmiento and Raúl Alfonsín.2
- PresidentsSarmiento, Mitre, Avellaneda, Roca, Pellegrini, Yrigoyen and more.3,4
- ProtectedOver 90 vaults are National Historic Monuments.5
- Find themOur map tab marks each grave; the English tour visits the best known.
Who is buried at Recoleta Cemetery
Ask who is buried at Recoleta Cemetery and the honest answer is: much of Argentina's history. The City of Buenos Aires counts more than 200 figures of the nation's past among its graves,1 and lists political leaders, former presidents, writers, Nobel Prize winners, sportspeople and business leaders among them.6 Many lie in family vaults, side by side with relatives whose names mean nothing to a visitor.
For the national monuments commission, Recoleta works as Argentina's pantheon in all but name, since no other place gathers so many historic tombs.7 The idea of a formal pantheon for the nation's heroes was taken up by the commission in 1939 and returned in 1970 under the name Altar de la Patria, but the cemetery had long since become one in practice.8
Some graves draw far more visitors than others. Evita, Sarmiento and Alfonsín head the tourism board's list of the graves people seek out most,2 while the city's own list of the busiest graves adds the chemist Luis Federico Leloir and the writer Adolfo Bioy Casares.9 Below, we walk through them by the part they played in the country's story.
Who is where
Famous graves and what marks them
| Name | Who they were | What marks the tomb |
|---|---|---|
| Domingo F. Sarmiento | President | Obelisk with a condor |
| Bartolomé Mitre | President | Liberty, Duty and Justice |
| Nicolás Avellaneda | President | Figure of Hope |
| Carlos Pellegrini | President | Raised by the Jockey Club |
| Guillermo Brown | Admiral | Column with naval trophy |
| Luis F. Leloir | Nobel laureate | Family vault |
| Eva Peron | First lady | Duarte family vault |
From the national monuments commission's guide, NobelPrize.org and the City of Buenos Aires.15,16,17,19,24,25,26
The presidents
Heads of state are the easiest graves to recognize, because their tombs were built as public statements. Sarmiento, Mitre and Alfonsín all rest here, the tourism board confirms.3 Víctor de Pol gave Sarmiento an obelisk with a bronze condor in 1889,15 and Mitre's monument, by Rubino, surrounds him with the virtues he stood for.16
For Avellaneda, the Parisian sculptor Coutan carved a medallion portrait and a drooping Hope in 1908.17 Roca rests with his relatives in a vault at an intersection of the cemetery's avenues,18 and Carlos Pellegrini's mausoleum was raised in 1913 by the Jockey Club, which he had founded.19 The tomb of Roque Sáenz Peña was declared a National Historic Tomb by a decree of 2011.14
Political Argentina gathers at one monument in particular, raised for those killed in the uprising of 1890. Alem, Yrigoyen and Illia now lie together inside it,4 in a design that Courtois drew up in 1892.20 Aristóbulo del Valle, who founded the Unión Cívica Radical together with Alem, also rests in the cemetery.21
Independence heroes and founders
The oldest corner of the national story is a shared pantheon for meritorious citizens: Saavedra, Sáenz, Balcarce, Perdriel and Funes lie under modest stones.27 Nearby, a gravestone for Remedios de Escalada de San Martín dates from 1824, and it was commissioned by her husband, the Liberator himself.28 Few visitors stop at these early stones, which makes them peaceful places to pause.
Guillermo Brown, the Irishman who led Argentina's ships against Spain, lies beneath the column his widow paid for.10,24 Manuel Dorrego and Juan Bautista Alberdi, names every Argentine schoolchild learns, are also here.3 Dorrego's tomb has the compact form of an Egyptian mastaba,29 a plain block that is easy to walk past if you do not know whose name it carries.
Salvador María del Carril helped frame the Constitution of 1853 and became vice president alongside Justo José de Urquiza.30 Juan Martín de Pueyrredón lies in a tomb designed by his own son, the painter and architect Prilidiano Pueyrredon.31 And Luis Vernet, the first Argentine political and military commander of the Malvinas, has a National Historic Tomb here.12
Pick your focus
Which famous graves should you look for?
Choose by the history that interests you.
If Politics and presidents
Sarmiento, Mitre, Pellegrini, the 1890 pantheon
Alem, Yrigoyen and Illia rest together in the 1890 pantheon.4
If Independence and war heroes
The Meritorious Citizens pantheon and Admiral Brown
The pantheon honors Saavedra and Deán Funes.27
If Science and letters
Leloir, Muñiz and Bioy Casares
Leloir won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1970.25
If Evita
Head for the Duarte vault
Her vault has more visitors than any other.26
If Everything, with stories
Take a guided tour
The English tour lasts 2 hours.
Writers, scientists and a Nobel laureate
Luis Federico Leloir received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1970 for showing how sugar nucleotides help living cells build carbohydrates.67 He died in Buenos Aires on 2 December 1987.68 His vault is one of those the city lists among the most visited, alongside that of the writer Adolfo Bioy Casares.9 Neither is grand: both are family vaults you could pass without noticing.
Science has an older champion here too. The commission honors the doctor Francisco Javier Muñiz as the country's first naturalist.66 He died in 1871 while caring for yellow fever patients, and Ximenes later framed his bust with scenes from his career.43 Look for the staff of Asclepius held by the allegorical figure.
Education and letters are represented as well. Emma Nicolay de Caprile, who organized and directed one of the country's leading teacher-training schools, has a National Historic Tomb.47 Among the French sculpture, the cenotaph of the writer Lucio V. López, from about 1894, is by Jean Alexandre Falguière.69 Valentín Alsina rests under a monument by the Belgian sculptor Jacques de Braekeleer.70
Go with a guide
What a guided tour of the famous graves costs
Compare guided cemetery tours for your group.
Weigh up 3 options
What a guided tour of the famous graves costs
Compare guided cemetery tours for your group.
- English guided tour2 hours · per person starting at $12
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View - Small-group tour2.5 hours · per person starting at $59
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View - Private tour2 hours · $75 and up
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View
Starting prices on GetYourGuide, exchanged at the ECB reference rate. The booking page gives the exact price.
Protected by decree
When the state honored these tombs
Decree of 1946
Admiral Brown
His tomb became a National Historic Tomb.10
Decree of 1979
Salvador María del Carril
The first vice president's tomb was protected.11
Decree of 1983
Luis Vernet
The Malvinas commander's tomb followed.12
Declared in 2007
The whole cemetery
Recoleta became a National Historic Monument.13
Decree of 2011
Roque Sáenz Peña
One of the most recent declarations.14
Evita and the women of Recoleta
Of all the graves, a woman's draws the biggest crowd: Eva Peron, in the Duarte vault.26 She is the reason many visitors come, and the tourism board notes that thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the vault each year.71 Our page on her tomb covers her life, the long journey of her body and how to find the vault.
Other women here were famous in their own century. Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson y de Mendeville rests under an 1870 tomb flanked by crosses and downturned torches.72 San Martín himself ordered the stone for his wife Remedios,28 and the educator Emma Nicolay de Caprile, who died in 1884, has her own protected tomb.47 Each of these graves is small beside the presidents' monuments, which makes them all the more worth finding.
Some of the women remembered most warmly by visitors are not public figures at all. Rufina Cambaceres, in her Art Nouveau tomb of the early 1900s,36 and Liliana Crociati, shown in bronze in her wedding dress beside her dog,38 are remembered for the grief of the families who built their tombs. Their stories belong on our page of legends and stories.
Video
Famous graves of Recoleta Cemetery, Evita's among them
Travels with V and Steve on YouTube · Playback files load only once you tap play.
More than 200 figures of Argentine history lie here, among them Eva Duarte de Peron, Raúl Alfonsín and Luis Federico Leloir.
National historic tombs
The state has listed upward of 90 individual vaults,5 and in 2007 it extended monument status to the entire cemetery.13 The national commission publishes a record for each protected tomb, naming the person, the location and the decree that protects it. Reading a few of them is a quick way to see whom the state chose to honor, and when.
The records span decades. Decree 3.039 covered Brown in 1946;10 Decree 1.022 followed for del Carril in 1979;11 Decree 1.867 for Vernet in 1983;12 and Decree 1.470 reached Sáenz Peña only in 2011.14 Each declaration was a political choice as well as a heritage one, made by the governments of its day, and the dates say as much about those governments as about the dead.
To find the best known among them, open the famous graves tab of our map, where each pin links to its spot in Google Maps. A protected tomb is still a family grave: families keep vaults under concession from the city,73 and burials still take place in the cemetery today.74 Look, read and photograph, but never step inside a vault or touch its contents.
How to see the famous graves in one visit
The graves are spread across the whole grid, so plan a loop rather than a list. Start at the Junín gate,32 work through the early pantheons near the center, then the southern alleys for Sarmiento, Mitre and Evita, the west for Avellaneda and Falcón, Pellegrini on the way back to the center, and the north for the 1890 pantheon and Alfonsín.4 Our self-guided route page walks this loop stop by stop.
A guide saves time. Our English tour spends 2 hours among the best-known mausoleums, Evita's included, while another option keeps its 2.5-hour tours to 15 guests or fewer. The cemetery's own free guided walks in Spanish leave from the main entrance every hour.75 Any of them will point out graves you would walk past alone.
Whatever you choose, bring patience for the crowd at Evita's vault and a little curiosity for the quieter ones. The most rewarding moments often come in an empty alley, reading a name you half remember from a street sign in the city outside. Many of the streets of Buenos Aires carry names you will meet again here, cut into the marble.
FAQ
Questions answered quickly.
Who is buried at Recoleta Cemetery?
Which famous people buried in Recoleta Cemetery draw the most visitors?
How many presidents are buried there?
Is a Nobel laureate buried in Recoleta?
Yes, Luis Federico Leloir.
He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1970.25
Is San Martín buried in Recoleta?
No, but his wife's gravestone is there.
Her husband, the Liberator, ordered her gravestone in 1824.28
Are the famous tombs protected?
Many are.
Upward of 90 vaults hold national status, each under a separate decree.5
Can I see the famous graves on a tour?
Yes.
The English guided tour sold here takes 2 hours and covers the famous mausoleums.
Sources
- City of Buenos Aires · Visitas turisticas al cementerio de la Recoleta ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · An aristocratic cemetery ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- City of Buenos Aires · Cementerio de la Recoleta ↩
- City of Buenos Aires · Cementerio de la Recoleta ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- City of Buenos Aires · Cementerio de la Recoleta ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Guillermo Brown ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Salvador Maria del Carril ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Luis Vernet ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Roque Saenz Pena ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Aristobulo del Valle ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery ↩
- City of Buenos Aires · Cementerio de la Recoleta ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- Nobel Prize Outreach (NobelPrize.org) · Luis Leloir: Facts ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · An aristocratic cemetery ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Miguel de Azcuenaga ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Salvador Maria del Carril ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · The lady in white at Recoleta Cemetery
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery ↩
- Museo Evita (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Historicas Eva Peron) · El derrotero del cuerpo de Eva
- Museo Evita (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Historicas Eva Peron) · El derrotero del cuerpo de Eva
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery (Buenos Aires in 24 hours)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Recoleta Cemetery
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos)
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Emma Nicolay de Caprile ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Recoleta Cultural Centre
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Recoleta Cultural Centre
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · La Biela
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · La Biela
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Legends of Recoleta
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Recoleta Tourist Assistance Center
- Government of the City of Buenos Aires (buenosaires.gob.ar) · Barrio de Recoleta (self-guided circuit)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Plaza Francia
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Plaza Francia
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Floralis Generica
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Floralis Generica
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Faculty of Law
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Evita's resting place
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · Biblioteca Nacional (National Library)
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board (turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar) · 9.30am | Recoleta Cemetery
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Francisco Javier Muniz ↩
- Nobel Prize Outreach (NobelPrize.org) · Luis Leloir: Facts ↩
- Nobel Prize Outreach (NobelPrize.org) · Luis Leloir: Facts ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Sepulcro de Valentin Alsina ↩
- Buenos Aires City Tourism Board · Evita's resting place ↩
- National Commission of Monuments, Places and Historic Assets (Argentina) · Guia de Monumentos Historicos Nacionales, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, parte 2 (PDF, pp. 315-324: Cementerio de la Recoleta, Sepulcros Historicos) ↩
- City of Buenos Aires, Boletin Oficial · Decree annex IF-2026-26616528-GCABA-SECGVC (PDF, p. 30: Gerencia Operativa Cementerio Recoleta) ↩
- City of Buenos Aires, Boletin Oficial · Decree annex IF-2026-26616528-GCABA-SECGVC (PDF, p. 30: Gerencia Operativa Cementerio Recoleta) ↩
- City of Buenos Aires · Visitas turisticas al cementerio de la Recoleta ↩