Book
The Espada Cemetery
/ El
Cementerio de Espada
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After the conquest
of the New World and as the population grew, burial space at churches
became very scarce. During the government of Don Salvador de Muro y
Salazar, Marquis of Someruelos, Bishop José Díaz de Espada y Landa
financed the construction of a large cemetery in a lot donated by
Francisco Teneza Rubira. The area was located one mile to the west of
the city of Havana, near the coast and next to San Lázaro Hospital.
Its boundaries included the present streets of San Lázaro, Vapor,
Espada, and Aramburu. Construction on the site lasted for two years
and it was finally inaugurated on February 2, 1806. Even though the
cemetery was given the official name of “Campo Santo” (Holy Field), it
was always known as “el
cementerio
Espada”, the Espada Cemetery.
The large number
of victims from the cholera epidemic circa 1868 did not allow for more
plots at the Espada Cemetery, except for those buried in niches or
crypts. In 1871, the new Colón Cemetery was inaugurated and in 1878,
the Espada Cemetery was closed due to the population growth and its
location within the city limits.
The book, Guía
del Cementerio de la Habana, published in 1868 by Pujol y Compañía,
lists thousands of people buried in the now defunct Espada Cemetery.
Many of these inscriptions have a wealth of information including
dates of birth, age at time of death, and sometimes even the name of
the deceased’s spouse, child, or parent. In order to make this
information available to everyone interested in Cuban genealogy, the
Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, Florida, decided to undertake its first
transcription project, now known as “The Espada Project”. We hope the
work of our club members will assist you in your search for your
ancestors. Please be sure to let us know if you find one of your
family members in this database!
The CGC Board would like to thank the following group of
transcribers for volunteering their time and sharing their passion for
genealogy in this important task: Annette Baquedano,
Edward Báez,
Susan Conner, Lourdes del Pino,
Lupe Díaz,
Mariela Fernández,
Jorge
Flores, Eddie Ramos, Carmen Roque, Juan Sardiñas, Marie Zaret, and
Martha Ibañez Zervoudakis.
