Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday- from Madrid, Spain!



This is the niche for my husband's maternal grandmother, María Consuelo Martín Rivero, at the Cementerio Fuencarral, Madrid, Spain. Niches in mausoleums are more popular in Spain than here, especially in urban areas like Madrid. There are several cultural differences, also, with burials in Spain. First, since bodies are rarely embalmed, the niche is temporary. It is rented for X number of years, and then the remains are removed to an ossuary. The niche is then rented to another family. Burials in the ground are the only permanent memorials. The genealogist in me appreciates the difference in cultures, but not the loss of the inscription in a few years!

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

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