Described as “an exercise in pious excesses,” Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón also known as Cementerio Colón (Columbus Cemetery, Zapata, esq. 12, tel. 07/833-4196 or 832-1050; daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; entrance CUC1, guided tours CUC5, cameras CUC5) covers 56 hectares and contains more than 500 major mausoleums, chapels, vaults, tombs, and galleries (in addition to countless gravestones) embellished with angels, griffins, cherubs, and other flamboyant ornamentation.

You’ll even find Greco-Roman temples in miniature, an Egyptian pyramid, and medieval castles, plus baroque, Romantic, Renaissance, art deco, and art nouveau art by a pantheon of Cuba’s leading sculptors and artists. The triple-arched entrance gate, inspired by the Triumphal Arch in Rome, has marble reliefs depicting the crucifixion and Lazarus rising from the grave and is topped by a marble coronation stone representing the theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity.

Today a national monument, Cementerio Colón was laid out between 1871 and 1886 in 16 rectangular blocks, or insulae, like a Roman military camp. The designer, a Spaniard named Calixto de Loira, divided the cemetery by social status, with separate areas for non-Catholics and for victims of epidemics. It was originally open only to nobles, who competed to build the most elaborate tombs, with social standing dictating the size and location of plots.

Cementerio Colón is a petrified version of society of the times, combining, says the Guía Turística (available at the entrance gate), a “grandeur and meanness, good taste and triviality … and even an unusual black humor, as in the gravestone carved as a double-three, devoted to an emotional elderly lady who died with that domino in her hand, thus losing both game and life at a time.” The doble tres was that of Juana Martín, a domino fanatic who indeed died as described (Calles 6 y G).

Famous criollo patricians, colonial aristocrats, and war heroes such as Máximo Gómez are buried here alongside noted intellectuals, merchants, and politicians. The list goes on and on: José Raúl Capablanca, the world chess champion 1921–27 (his tomb is guarded by a marble bishop); Alejo Carpentier, Cuba’s most revered contemporary novelist; Hubert de Blanck, the noted composer; Celia Sánchez; Haydee Santamaría; and a plethora of revolutionaries killed for the cause, and even some of the Revolution’s enemies.

Many monuments belong to such communities as the Abakuá secret society, the Asturians, and the Galicians, and to groups such as film and radio stars. The Galería Tobias is one of several underground galleries; this one is 100 meters long and contains 256 niches containing human remains.

The major tombs line Avenida Cristóbal Colón, the main avenue, which leads south from the gate to an ocher-colored, octagonal neo-Byzantine church, the Capilla Central, containing a fresco of the Last Judgment.