Colon Cemetery is one of the great historical cemeteries of the world. It is estimated that the cemetery has more than 500 major mausoleums, family vaults and chapels over 140 acres. Families do not pay to have a loved one interred here – however after three years, the bones of the deceased are retrieved from the vault and consolidated elsewhere in the cemetery, thus providing space for someone else.
The tallest and one of the most elaborate of monuments is the 75-foot-tall memorial for firefighters who died in a disastrous citywide fire in 1890. The ‘Monumento a los Bomberos’ was erected in memory of 28 firemen who lost their lives fighting a burning building on May 17,1890. Apparently the owner knew the building contained explosives and kept that information from the firefighters, sending them to certain death. The monument is adorned with beautiful sculptures representing the virtues of the firemen. The bats represent the evil of the traitorous building owner.
