The Cementiri de Poblenou is a historic cemetery, the oldest still in use in Barcelona and one of the city’s most remarkable artistic sites. Inaugurated in 1775, it was rebuilt in neoclassical style after being destroyed by Napoleonic troops. On one side lie modest graves; on the other, grand bourgeois mausoleums adorned with modernista sculptures. The celebrated Petó de la Mort (Kiss of Death) is just one example of the artistry present throughout. Walking through the cemetery is to traverse centuries of Barcelona’s history carved in stone: entire families, illustrious figures and enduring legends among angels and cypresses.
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There are also anonymous graves, such as the revered tomb of Poblenou’s “El Santet” (“little saint”), a local boy to whom people continue to make offerings.
The 19th-century expansion allowed Barcelona’s wealthier families to commission mausoleums and pavilions, which now form a sculptural ensemble of outstanding artistic value, including works by some of the finest funerary sculptors of the period.
