Cemitério da Saudade

Franca (São Paulo – SP)

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The Saudade Cemetery, founded in 1855, was the first cemetery built in the township of Franca (SP) after the prohibition of burials in churches changed the prevailing customs. In those days the local population made sure to build the cemetery at a distance from the town. As the town developed into a city, however, the Saudade Cemetery grounds became part of the downtown district and hard to reach on account of the traffic conditions on the surrounding narrow alleys. In the mid 18th century, the dead were buried on road sides and crosses were used as grave markers. In the early 19th century, internments in private properties such as landed estates or churches became popular, as for example in the Laje and Posse cemeteries, or in churches of the settlement originally named Arraial do Capim Mimoso, nowadays the city of Franca.

Timeline:

18th century– Arraial do Capim Mimoso was established by settlers from Minas Gerais who migrated south to the neighboring state of São Paulo.
1805 – Burials took place in the cemetery of the Church located next to the “house of prayer” that later became the Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Our Lady of Rosary)..
1812 – Upon the partial conclusion of the original Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of Conception), interments were made inside the building, according to the customs of the time.
1821 – Portuguese king D. João VI established the settlement of Vila Franca Del Rey, in the township of Mogi-Mirim.
1824 – Vila Franca Del Rey was renamed Vila Franca do Imperador, as a tribute to Brazilian Emperor D. Pedro II.
1829 – In the month of April, in abidance by the prescriptions of Emperor D. Pedro I issued in October 1828, local authorities selected the area in which to build the Saudade Cemetery. “… in view of the size of its site, which is airy and unobstructed, the Cemetery beyond the land reserved for the future Church of Saint Francis, comprising the same three hundred hands in longitude and one hundred and fifty hands in latitude…” (MINUTES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1829. M.H. M. JOSÉ CHIACHIRI).
1855 – On December 9^th, Franca’s parish priest Fr. Joaquim Ferreira Teles dedicated the cemetery.
1855 – On December 11, the first burial took place at Saudade Cemetery.
1869 – A commission of town representatives began to discuss the expansion of the area destined for the cemetery.
1884 – In June, the provincial governor determined that the cemetery management the transferred from the parish to the township administration.
19th century– Belarmino Lopes Valadão built to conclusion the São Miguel Chapel, the Cross and the portal at the cemetery.
20th century – The two first marbleworks were established in the city of Franca: Natale Frateschi sons and José Visibelli sons.
1960 – The Saudade Cemetery becomes an integral part of the cityscape of the city of Franca.
21st century – The Saudade Cemetery has its capacity completely exhausted and remains as a repository of historical memory for the city of Franca and one to be carefully conserved and maintained.

Saudade Cemetery was built near the São Francisco rest home, in the Jardim Consolação district, on Frederico Ozanan Street, in front of the Square Carlos Pacheco, which was created by the then Mayor Onofre Gosuen in the 1950s. This district takes up a 330,859 m² area set between the Poraná Street, Antônio Barbosa Filho and avenue Ismael Alonso y Alonso, surrounded by homes, factories, shops, offices and service businesses. Within this context of urban and modern character, the cemetery doubles as a repository of memories of the Franca society – a memory made up of affection, acquired knowledge and life experience.

The notorious personalities of the city of Franca buried at Saudade Cemetery include Higino de Oliveira Caleiro, an influential trader who was also town representative and president of the local House of Representatives, in 1937; Bonaventura Cariolato, an Italian artist who settled in Brazil during World War I and painted numerous landscapes of the region; Antonio Pereira Lima, a politician who headed the former UDN [National Democratic Movement], co-founded both the Liga Nacionalista [Nationalist League] and the former Guarda Civil [Civil Police], and played a leading role in the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution.
José Luiz dos Santos Pereira, a journalist who founded and directed the Tribuna de Franca newspaper; Barão de Franca, the region’s first coffee planter, who was also town representative and president of the local House of Representatives, deceased in 1891; Júlio Cardoso, a lawyer and journalist deceased in 1920, whose commitment to education and learning resulted in the creation of the Escola Industrial [Industrial School]; Helio Palermo, a former mayor of Franca, deceased in 1990, who implemented the city’s waterworks and other project such as the widening of roads and the renovation of plazas; Maria Conceição de Barros, who reportedly was murdered by her boyfriend’s father, after he learned she was pregnant; oblationary inscriptions are affixed to her tomb.

The layout of Saudade Cemetery was designed as a standard rectangular grid, with sectors aligned back to back, and main entrance on Praça
Sabino Loureiro. The singular characteristic of this cemetery is the sectors located to the left of the main gate, which were predestined for children’s graves only. A visit to Saudade Cemetery is a journey into the physical space and the soul of this burial ground that reserved a place of honor for children that died in Franca at the turn on the 20th century.

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KNEELING PRAYING ANGEL, 1890s. This is a variation of the allegory of desolation that proliferated in Brazilian cemeteries. The classical statue of the naked Child Angel personifies the spiritual being, exercising the office of messenger between God and men. The drapery takes the place of the underwear used in the old days.

CHRISTIAN THEMATIC, 1900s. A bas-relief with a detailed description can be seen. The angel of desolation bows before the broken tree – the disruption of André Martins Filho’s life. At the top of the tomb, the Eucharist symbol stands out, flanked by pyres.

SLEEPING CHILD, 1890s. The modern feeling of childhood began to value the child’s differentiated world. The medium-sized tombs for children become examples of beauty, as in this model that presents the sleeping child. Dressed in a nightgown, she lets you see a certain sensual air, showing one of her shoulders. The refinement of the cushion is observed at the top of the funerary urn.

ANGEL CHILD, 1900s. Frateschi marble works decorated the tomb with the Carrara marble sculpture block, which represents the Child Angel praying beside the cross and on the parchment that records the great feeling of loss: longing for Francisca Constância Junqueira , who died in 1906.

NEOGOTIC CHAPEL-TOMB. The wealthier families used to build private chapel-tombs for their dead ones, to offer their prayers without being harassed. This architecture boasts neo-Gothic elements, pointed arches, pinnacles and images of angels and saints. Marble artist Frateschi used gray and white marble, which contrasts and reinforces the fine completion of the work.

NEOCLASSIC SIMPLICITY, 1900s. The first tombs are apparently simple, however they adopt bas-relief decorations of great craftsmanship. It highlights the importance of the epitaph that celebrates the memory of Dr. José Luiz dos Santos Pereira, doctor, journalist and politician, who died in 1904.

THE CHILD, 1900s. The pillar bears the Carrara marble child statue, a typical model of mass production. The child, as guardian of the tomb, presents himself in a state of meditation, with a sad and serene expression. Leaning on a column, she spreads flowers to the dead as a sign of tenderness.

SAINT JORGE, 1960s. This bronze sculpture symbolizes Saint Jorge overcoming the dragon – good overcoming evil, a constant struggle of the living until the moment of death. Attention is paid to the haughtiness of the holy warrior who was commissioned in the marble shop Brasil – Coppedê Brothers Ltd, Ribeirão Preto.

CHAPEL-TOMB, 1910s. The trend of the time was to take the church to the cemetery, one of the ways to show the status quo of traditional families in the city. Colonel Jacintho da Silva’s family opted for an architecture decorated with festoons, pyres, portraits and pilasters. At the top, adult Christ contemplates the sacred power of the place.

ALLEGORY OF LONGING, 1920s. The tomb preserved the Carrara marble sculptural group composed by the Young Angel, who appears calm and melancholic in his classic beauty, in front of the Latin cross. The handmade value of the flower crowns and the insinuating folds of the garment are observed.

TO THE CONSTITUTIONALIST SOLDIERS OF 32. It is a collective funerary monument that holds the remains of the soldiers of Franca that died in 1932. The marble works of the Minervino Brothers adopted stylized geometric shapes from art deco, to honor the merit of these revolutionary heroes.

THE WEEPER, 1920s. A woman kneeling on the grave interprets in tears the lament and the pain of the loss of Dr. João Antunes de Araújo Pinheiro, one of the prominent people of the society of Franca, in the beginning of the 20th century. The crown of flowers, indicative of a divine allegory, represents the victory of the human soul over sin and death. Built by Attílio Glerice, São Paulo.

BORGES, Maria Elizia. Arte Funerária: representação do vestuário da criança. LOCUS: Revista de História. Juiz de Fora, v. 5, n.2, p. 145-159, 1999 b.
BORGES, Maria Elizia. Arte Funerária: representação de criança despida. História {Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da UNESP}, São Paulo, n.14, p. 173-187, 1995.
CHIACHIRI FILHO, José. Do sertão à Vila Franca do Imperador. Franca, 1973. 3. Tese de doutorado.
JURKEVICS, Vera Irene. A dimensão da morte burguesa nos séculos XIX e XX. O Cemitério de Franca. [Monografia]. Franca: UNESP, 1994
MANSO, Patrícia Mara Estrela. Cemitério da Saudade de Franca. [Monografia]. Franca: UNESP, 1994

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Credits:

Project coordination and research: M Elizia Borges.
Website design: Catu Design, 2008.
Researcher: Adriana M. Gianvechio Carvalho – CNPq.
Photography: M. Elizia Borges, 1996.

Contact:

maelizia@terra.com.br
Cemitério da Saudade, Rua Simão Caleiro, 1450
Franca, SP – Brazil
Phone: +55 (16) 3723-9103
Hours: daily from 7 AM to 6 PM
Current manager: Adão Borges