Cementerio los Disidentes, Valparaíso

During the 19th century, Chile underwent a process of regulating burials. This occurred because churches, due to their poor ventilation and small size, were gradually considered breeding grounds for infection, which was detrimental to public health and hygiene. This meant that the Church relinquished its cemeteries to the jurisdiction of the State, affecting the parish rights it received and the symbolic importance it held within the community. During the government of Domingo Santa María, the Law of Secular Cemeteries was passed in 1883. This law removed the Church from the administration of cemeteries, prohibited burials in churches, and allowed the burial of people of any religious belief. The Dissidents' Cemetery, also known as the English Cemetery, located on Panteón Hill (formerly called Cemetery Hill) in Valparaíso, is an example of the changes experienced by the funerary sector during this period. On the one hand, its location is not accidental, as it was a requirement that cemeteries be established outside the city to avoid sanitation problems. On the other hand, it was founded in 1825 and, for about fifty years, exclusively served non-Catholics, which gave rise to its name. Members of the British, American, German, and French immigrant communities are particularly buried there. It features mausoleums and tombs of different styles, making it a benchmark in terms of sculptural and iconographic expression, which transforms this cemetery into a veritable open-air museum. Furthermore, one can recognize an interesting and diverse culture related to the design of the mausoleums, the texts of the epitaphs, and the personal touches added by relatives to the niches of their deceased. All these attributes contributed to the Valparaíso Dissidents' Cemetery being declared a Historical Monument in 2005. Thanks to this process, historical information about the city's cemeteries began to be collected and their works of art cataloged, many of which have been restored in recent years.