The Colon Cemetery is the biggest cemetery in the Americas. It offers travelers and art lovers in Havana numerous possibilities to appreciate art, especially sculptures and statues. More than a mere cemetery, Colon is a huge outdoor museum with more than 56.000 tombs.
Mausoleum of the Firefighters and Sculptures: Colon Cemetery
However, what is most impressive at Colon Cemetery is the artistic value of hundreds of pantheons, a sample of Cuban architectural history, and the feeling devotion that inspired the creations regardless the origin and social condition of the buried citizens. Behind each one of the representations that safeguard the last rest, famous architects and sculptors from Cuba and all over the world have intervened with their art with their different motivations and styles.
We recommend The Mausoleum of the Firefighters – Mausoleo de los Bomberos in Spanish – is one of the most famous monuments at the Colon Cemetery in Havana, highlighted by the highest sculptures at this cemetery. This monument is a set of sculptures dedicated to the firemen who died in 1890 while in service during a fire at Isasi hardware store.
This 10 meters-height funeral artwork was created by the Spanish sculptor Augustín Querol Subirats, known for important awards such as the Universal Exhibition of 1888 with his creation The Suicide of Sagunto, and the creation The Tradition from 1887; both highlighted at Museo del Prado in Spain.
The Mausoleum of the Firefighters is crowned by an angel holding a deceased fireman and in the middle part of the pedestal on the right front side appears the image of a religious, and in the left front part there is a sculpture that represents the republic, the image has its hand a crown with the laurels of Glory. At the base of the pedestal, this mausoleum represents the deceased firemen with their real faces.
This monument is located on the main avenue, known as Cristóbal Colón.