Life in a cemetery in Manila. Cemetery city in manila
If the grave's lease has expired or the rent has not been paid, grave cleaners will open the crypt, remove the bodies and rebury them. Any remains that relatives have not come to collect are placed in plastic bags, marked, and buried in a common grave. Bodies buried in above-ground graves are subject to drying out more quickly, meaning they do not decompose and instead become mummified. These are the simple rules in Guatemala cemeteries.
Let's find out the details and in one go see the incredible juxtaposition of the living and the dead in the Philippines
A grave cleaner sits on a coffin next to a mummified body at an exhumation site in Guatemala City's main cemetery.
2. The two largest cemeteries in the capital of Guatemala are so full that relatives have to rent graves for the deceased. If they fall behind on rent, cemetery workers "evict" the body and send it to mass grave sites.
3. The gravedigger wraps the mummified body in a bag during exhumation.
4. Such rentals are not a new phenomenon, but now more and more bodies are being sent to mass burials near the main cemetery, next to the city dump, over which there is a constant stench and vultures circling.
5. A woman places flowers on a grave, as if not paying attention to the mummified body standing nearby.
6. Judging by the gravedigger’s face, his job is fun.
7. The practice of renting graves and “evictions” says a lot about the problems faced by a country going through difficult times. Violence, the deep gap between rich and poor and unemployment are just some of these problems.
8. Rich people in this predominantly Catholic country prefer private land. However, those that have to use public cemeteries pay about $25 for the first six years of renting a grave. Another four years cost $23. After that, you have to pay every four years. In a country where many people cannot even afford food, this is a significant amount.
9. Exhumation of a woman's body in a cemetery in Guatemala.
10. “Of course, most of the dead in mass graves were poor people,” says cemetery worker Carmen Lopez, sitting in the shadow of a tombstone. - The rich can buy personal mausoleums. We are poor people, we end up here.” Photo: A grave cleaner places a woman's body in a coffin.
11. According to a cemetery administrator, the government recently sent about 3,600 telegrams warning relatives of upcoming exhumations, including about 1,500 children's graves. In the photo: the exhumation of another body in a cemetery in Guatemala.
12. Exhumations usually occur twice a year. In the photo: transporting coffins and corpses in plastic bags on a forklift.
13. The practice of exhumation is also not new, but now that more and more people are being buried in public cemeteries, the number of unpaid bills is growing, and this is leading to an increase in the number of exhumations. Photo: A gravedigger displays a human skull during an exhumation at a cemetery in Guatemala.
14. The process was fine-tuned to ensure that the bodies were treated with as much dignity as possible. In the photo: a gravedigger removes bodies from a loader.
Life in the cemetery
1. In the Philippines, people are mostly buried not in the ground, but in family crypts-mausoleums. Often these crypts look richer than the houses when these people were alive.
2. The family name must be written above the entrance to the crypt.
4. Those who are poorer build a rain shelter instead of a crypt, and sometimes concrete coffins-sarcophagi simply lie in the open air.
5. Multi-story mausoleum.
6. But the most amazing thing is that due to the incredible population density, people live in Manila’s cemeteries.
7. The population of this cemetery is about a million dead and about 10 thousand living and completely happy people.
8. Each mausoleum is a separate house, some of which are even two-story. One of the tombstones is most often used as a kitchen table, the rest are used as beds. If there is only one tombstone, then during the day it is a table, and at night it is a bed.
9. Most often, a family occupies several crypts at once, and each is equipped for different needs. Here are the couple watching a TV series in the living room.
10. A man is preparing dinner in the kitchen.
11. Bedroom.
13. Clothes dryer.
15. Crypt-garages.
17. Crypt-aviary for a dog.
18. Crypt shops!
19. In addition to shops, there are snack bars and even internet cafes.
21. Some people live on the graves of their loved ones, and some rent crypts from relatives of deceased people.
22. Sometimes people do not live in crypts, but in small huts that are attached to stacks of sarcophagi.
23. The mother places the child in the house.
24. Chickens are grazing.
25. On the roofs of the crypts there are cages with fighting cocks.
26. Playground.
27. We enjoyed talking with local residents. Most of them were born in the cemetery and have lived here for many decades.
28. Many people work here at the cemetery. They help carry coffins, dig graves, build crypts, keep order in them and protect them from looting, and sell flowers.
29. There is no running water in this locality, so women walk along the streets carrying canisters of water in homemade carts for sale.
30.3 pesos for 5 liters.
31. Northern Cemetery of Manila is an entire city with an extensive and complex network of streets and alleys. In general, the standard of living here is higher than in the slums.
32. People wear clean clothes, the area is cleared of garbage. The cemetery is so large and there are so many people living there that it even has its own bus route!
33. The children go to school. She is, of course, outside the cemetery.
34. Life is everywhere...
40. It’s amazing how neat Filipinos, even the very poor, look. They wear snow-white T-shirts even in the trashiest places.
44. Despite the fact that local authorities from time to time try to expel all the inhabitants of the cemetery, they still return - the cemetery provides housing and protection from outsiders, as well as some kind of income, which cannot be said about life in the slums.
45. Finally, we watched the funeral procession. Cheerful and not at all funeral music is playing; what is happening is more reminiscent of a wedding.
Above the entrance to the cemetery hangs a banner with portraits of the mayor of Manila and his deputy.
In the Philippines, people are mostly buried not in the ground, but in family crypts-mausoleums. Often these crypts look richer than the houses when these people were alive.
There is an incredible juxtaposition of the living and the dead here.
1. The family name must be written above the entrance to the crypt.
2.
3. Those who are poorer build a rain shelter instead of a crypt, and sometimes concrete coffins-sarcophagi simply lie in the open air.
4. Multi-story mausoleum.
5. But the most amazing thing is that due to the incredible population density, people live in Manila’s cemeteries.
6. The population of this cemetery is about a million dead and about 10 thousand living and completely happy people.
7. Each mausoleum is a separate house, some of which are even two-story. One of the tombstones is most often used as a kitchen table, the rest are used as beds. If there is only one tombstone, then during the day it is a table, and at night it is a bed.
8. Most often, a family occupies several crypts at once, and each is equipped for different needs. Here are the couple watching a TV series in the living room.
9. A man is preparing dinner in the kitchen.
10. Bedroom.
12. Clothes dryer.
14. Crypt-garages.
16. Crypt-aviary for a dog.
17. Crypt shops!
18. In addition to shops, there are snack bars and even internet cafes.
20. Some people live on the graves of their loved ones, and some rent crypts from relatives of deceased people.
21. Sometimes people do not live in crypts, but in small huts that are attached to stacks of sarcophagi. The mother calls the child into the house:
22. Chickens are grazing.
23. On the roofs of the crypts there are cages with fighting cocks.
24. Playground.
25. We enjoyed talking with local residents. Most of them were born in the cemetery and have lived here for many decades.
26. Many people work here at the cemetery. They help carry coffins, dig graves, build crypts, keep order in them and protect them from looting, and sell flowers.
27. There is no running water in this locality, so women walk the streets carrying canisters of water in homemade carts for sale. 3 pesos for 5 liters.
28. Northern Cemetery of Manila is an entire city with an extensive and complex network of streets and alleys. In general, the standard of living here is higher than in.
29. People wear clean clothes, the area is cleared of garbage. The cemetery is so large and there are so many people living there that it even has its own bus route! Children go to school. She is, of course, outside the cemetery.
30. Life is everywhere...
34. It’s amazing how neat Filipinos, even the very poor, look. They wear snow-white T-shirts even in the trashiest places.
37. Despite the fact that local authorities from time to time try to expel all the inhabitants of the cemetery, they still return - the cemetery provides housing and protection from outsiders, as well as some kind of income, which cannot be said about life in the slums.
38. Finally, we watched the funeral procession. Cheerful and not at all funeral music is playing; what is happening is more reminiscent of a wedding. Above the entrance to the cemetery hangs a banner with portraits of the mayor of Manila and his deputy.
39. This is life in a cemetery in Manila.
Living cemeteries in the Philippines are an unusual social phenomenon. Of course, it would be more correct to say residential Philippines cemeteries. And not plural, but singular. But it sounds less enticing :)
Be that as it may, the Republic of the Philippines (Tagalog: Republika ng Pilipinas), or the Philippines (Pilipinas) is a state in Southeast Asia. Consists of many islands located in the Pacific Ocean between Indonesia and Taiwan. The Philippines' crowded capital, Manila, is home to more than 11 million people. In the center of the city is the Northern Cemetery, the final resting place of several Philippine presidents, various celebrities and hundreds of thousands of deceased Catholics.
In addition, approximately several thousand local residents live in the cemetery.
Philippine poverty has crossed the extreme barrier. People are forced to live in cemeteries. Coming from the provinces, unable to make their way in the harsh conditions of the metropolis, people make full use of the temple of death to live.
Thus, in the Philippines, approximately 40% of the population lives below the poverty level, and since the problem of overpopulation in Manila began to take on alarming proportions, the cemetery has become a convenient place of residence and work for hundreds of Filipino families.
By the way, if you think that our cemeteries, especially on major church holidays, are different from the Philippine cemetery, then you are mistaken. At least people live there, clean up after themselves. And our homeless people just eat. But let's not talk about sad things and look at karaoke at the grave:
So, destitute Filipinos eccentrically disposed of the mausoleums they inherited from their grandmothers and great-grandmothers. They live in them.
By the way, in Cairo many people also live in cemeteries. But, again, let’s stay on topic and return to the Philippines.
Manila, Philippines, a city of about 12 million people, is the eleventh largest metropolis in the world. It is considered one of the most densely populated. Add to this the fact that 40% of residents live below the poverty line, in terrible slums, and we can understand that the housing problem is very acute.
Therefore, it is not surprising how low-income residents of Manila solved the housing problem: they made a cemetery their home. The oldest North, with an area of 54 hectares, has become a haven for many Manila residents. Shacks made of wood and metal profiles are located on the upper floors of the tombs at the back wall of the cemetery. Stone and marble sarcophagi inside the mausoleums became beds. Electricity was connected from the city network on a nearby street. Drinking water comes from a dozen wells dug on the territory of the cemetery.
Currently, the cemetery resembles a city with an extensive network of streets and alleys, mini-basketball courts, fast food kiosks selling snacks and cigarettes not only for residents of the amazing city, but also for visitors to the cemetery. with karaoke, internet cafes - all the attributes of a normal city. Despite this, normally there are about 80 funerals every day.
Many residents found work in the kingdom of the dead. Teenagers pay 50 Philippine pesos ($0.5) to help carry coffins, while others collect scrap metal and plastic and hand it over for recycling. Some look after the graves, keep them clean and tidy, and protect them from robbers.
History is silent about when people first moved here, but already in the 50s quite a lot of residents lived here. A large increase in the population of the cemetery city occurred in the 1990s at the expense of rural residents. As of 2012, there were 6,000 “living souls” in the cemetery.
Manila, like all Asian cities, is a city of contradictions. Fashionable areas and skyscrapers here border on slums. There are luxury shopping centers, and a couple of kilometers away on the streets they sell simple national food. Crowds of people, traffic jams, crushes in the subway - in all this, Moscow is still far from Manila. But still, this city makes a wonderful impression because it has its own unique face that you will definitely like.
Where to stay: I highly recommend settling in the Makati area - this is the most decent and expensive area of Manila, here you will always be pleasant and calm. But it also has its own characteristics.
We have stayed in Manila twice, both in Makati. First time at the Z-hostel (if anything, there are separate rooms there). Z-hostel is located rather in the party part of Makati - there are many bars and clubs, very close by, for example, there is a place where you can watch dwarf fights. In numerous bars you can watch Asian women picking up European men. There are also a lot of strip clubs, and everything similar to them - in the evenings this area reminded me a little of Pattaya.
The second time we lived in a BSA Suite at the Alyala metro station, not far from a huge shopping center. The hotel is not the newest or most modern, but it is 30 floors and has a rooftop pool and is surrounded by other high-rise buildings in Makati. The Alyala area is much cleaner and quieter, at night there are almost no parties, but in the morning there are a million places where you can drink coffee and have a great lunch. There are also many small parks with beautiful fish in ponds, special walking areas above ground have been built for pedestrians, and Museum Alyala is located if you suddenly want to paint. In general, it’s a pleasure to spend time here and it even feels like you’re in Singapore or the States.
What to ride:
1. route public transport - a jeep (a very funny car with an open back that you can climb into while it is stopped at a traffic light)
2. if the routes are not suitable, you can take a tricycle (a kind of motorcycle with a sidecar) or even a pedicab, if it’s nearby
3. If you want to order a taxi, use the Grab application. Like Uber, only it works much better in the Philippines.
Things to see:
In the center of Manila, near the port, is the old, colonial part of the city - Intramuros. It is bordered by a fortress wall and inside looks like a Spanish or Portuguese ancient city. Here are Catholic churches, Spanish architecture, a fort.
In order not to go around the entire Intramuros on foot, we hired a Filipino in a pedicab - he gave us a ride and even told us something. Every time near a museum or church, he invited us to go out and visit this place, he was ready to wait. We did not go into the churches, since we had seen many similar ones in Europe, but we walked around the fort a little.
The fort stands on the bank of a river along which armfuls of greenery are constantly floating - probably these are special floating plants such as water lilies.
In addition to Intramuros, a very unusual place in Manila is of interest - the North Cemetery residential cemetery. Imagine a Catholic cemetery with crypts in which people live peacefully. These are not homeless people, not beggars, and not antisocial elements - these are normal families with children who live normal lives.
They have children, dogs, and cook food. Here you can also find small stalls with snacks and other small items. Some people have televisions right on their graves, and they watch them with the whole family. Once we even met a jukebox and Filipinos dancing to it.
Surprisingly, the cemetery does not produce an unpleasant feeling. All the people here are busy - someone is cleaning, someone is preparing food. Children play basketball and volleyball. Why do they live here? I don't know. Perhaps this is some kind of tribute to tradition, a desire to be closer to our ancestors (by the way, the cemetery, although very ancient, is still active). At least they do not evoke pity and are not at all embarrassed by their position - you can come, walk, look at their life and take photographs - they are only happy.
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