A book that highlights the value of Catalan funerary heritage

During the 18th century, the implementation of the concept of progress associated with hygienist currents promoted the physical separation between the living and the dead through the erection of cemeteries outside urban centres. This was encouraged by specific legislation, but also by the development of particular urban planning systems and construction technology, which generated cultural landscapes that have evolved, and which respond to the singularities of each territory. 

In Barcelona, the demographic expansion of the 19th century led to the creation of new cemeteries such as those of Poblenou and Montjuïc, which reflected the social system of the city: the lower classes were buried in the graves, and the bourgeoisie in sumptuous pantheons. It was especially in the latter that architects such as Elies Rogent, Leandre Albareda and Josep Oriol Mestres erected outstanding projects, later decorated by some of the most notable artists of the day. All this makes up an extensive heritage legacy dedicated to memory and culture, today managed by Cementiris de Barcelona, in which the population has shown great interest in recent decades. 

Published by University of Barcelona Editions, Publicacions i Edicions of the Barcelona City Coucil and Cementiris de Barcelona, the book incorporates the latest research on funerary heritage and offers a new look at these monumental complexes. It includes contributions from a group of specialists from various disciplines and the catalogue of the exhibition “Herència i Memòria”, dedicated to some of the most outstanding funerary works in the University of Barcelona’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 

Art, arquitectura i memòria al servei de la mort, which has been published in open access, has been co-edited by Ramon Dilla Martí, lecturer at the UB’s Department of Art History, and Maria Torras Freixa, lecturer at Boston University and affiliated at the UB’s Institute of Archaeology. The book will be presented on Wednesday 9 March at 6.00 pm in the Poblenou cemetery in Barcelona, followed by a guided tour of the site. It is necessary to confirm attendance via this link.