Cemitério Municipal de Bonfim Paulista

Bonfim Paulista (São Paulo – SP)

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The early settlement of the region of Bonfim Paulista took place around the year 1880 as result of the booming coffee economy and the development of farming in the area. The Cemitério Municipal de Bonfim Paulista was built in 1897 at the entrance of the then district of Bonfim Paulista, for those coming from the town of Ribeirão Preto, thereby abiding by the official ruling that forbade burials inside the local church. In 1893, the settlement originally known as Viaduto was renamed Vila Bonfim as a tribute to its founder, Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos Bonfim. Today, the economy of the town is based mainly on agriculture, with a population of about 10,000 residents living in an area of 430.000 square meters at a 20-minute drive from the city of Ribeirão Preto. The local landscape is quite pleasant and the region boasts a rich.

Timeline:

1880 – The settlement of the Vila Bonfim region begins because of the booming coffee plantations.
1883 – The Mogiana railroad system inaugurates its telegraphic service.
1883/1885 – >The settlement becomes known as “Viaduto” or “Chave do Viaduto” (literally, viaduct shunt), after a viaduct built for the railroad.
1894 – >Foundation of Vila Bonfim Paulista on February 10.
1894 – Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos Bonfim donated six acres of land for the construction of the cemetery and three acres for the construction of the railroad station named Estação Ferroviária – Companhia Mogiana de Estradas de Ferro.
1894 – Dedication of the first chapel, which had Bom Jesus de Bonfim as patron saint.
1895 – Creation of the local Police District, which belonged in the jurisdiction of Ribeirão Preto.
1897 – Law n. 22, which provided for the creation of a municipal house of representatives, gave status of municipal district to the previous Vila Bonfim. This law also defined the district’s territory, established real estate property taxes, provided for the public lighting system, and the creation of the local cemetery.
1898 – The church attained status of parish within the Diocese of São Paulo.
Turn of the 20th century – Vila Bonfim was home to a population of c. 6,000 and 40 operative farms.
1904 – Installation of the town’s waterworks.
1906 – Foundation of the first school and the first telephone exchange.
1907 – With the creation of the Diocese of Ribeirão Preto, the parish of Bonfim was transferred from the Diocese of São Paulo to this newly established one.
1908 – Coffee growing as a monoculture was undertaken by large plantation owners that included Cel. Américo Baptista da Costa; Cel. Emilio Moreno de Alagão, Cel. Furquim, Da. Iria Alves da Cunha Junqueira and Dr. Francisco da Cunha Junqueira.
1935 – Vice-mayor Ricardo Guimarães Sobrinho entered the public bid for the construction of the town’s funeral home designed by Cícero Martins Brandão.
1938 – Vila Bonfim was renamed Bonfim Paulista.
1957 – Establishment of the first slaughterhouse in the town.
1995 – Establishment of the town’s Small Claims Court.

With the construction of the new highway that crosses Bonfim Paulista, linking the town to Ribeirão Preto, the cemetery is now situated on a
street that runs parallel to the thoroughfare. Gradually the town is expanding outwards, around the cemetery site in the suburb. The cemetery is flanked on both sides with native woods. Behind the site, there is a low-income residential neighborhood.

Among the illustrious personalities buried at Cemitério Municipal Bonfim Paulista are the families: Vieira de Almeida, Camargo Pinto, Francisca Isoldina da Costa and Antonio Paschoal, many of which were coffee planters. For their most part, the ordinary citizens of Bonfim Paulista are buried in niches just above ground.

The Cemitério Municipal de Bonfim Paulista is located on a privileged site: it has a down slope leading to the main entrance. At the top, where a chapel is placed, we can get a beautiful view of the region. The entrance lane is flanked with the oldest grave markers, whereas rows of burial niches and their white gravestones stand out covered with purple foliage and identified with white plaques.

ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS, 20th century. In the past, the local craftspeople made plastic flowers to serve as gravemarker adornments. Nowadays, a wide array of arrangements of industrialized flowers of assorted colors is used in grave ornaments, from the simplest to the most sophisticated. They symbolize the soul of the deceased.

MODERN MAUSOLEUM, 20th century. The simple design of this mausoleum includes a single burial niche built as a platform and finished with brown granite. The bronze details and the gate representing the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit add a touch of sophistication to the memorial.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE, 19th century. Gravemarker erected with ordinary building materials such as clay bricks and lime. The creative shaping of the burial urn on the side of the tomb is particularly noteworthy.

THE SCROLL, 19th century. The epitaph is rendered in a way as to imitate the memorial inscriptions of classical antiquity. Here a scroll containing the inscriptions plays the role of an open book or a tombstone in Carrara marble. This gravemarker was probably done by the marbleworks Luiz Fazzi & Co, of Amparo and Ribeirão Preto.

MOURNERS, 20th century. The woman figure represents the grieving and lamentation over the death of Tonico, who died in 1929. Note the realistic style of the sculpture, its rich habiliments and the dainty wreath it carries on its right hand. This is one of the most remarkable gravemarkers in the Bonfim Paulista cemetery.

IMMIGRANT FAMILY, 20th century. This gravemarker of modern design and geometric forms was built with black granite and details in white granite The epitaph in Japanese is a tribute to immigrants from a distant land and a memento of their origins.

ALLEGORY OF DESOLATION, 20th century. Ribeirão Preto marbleworker Carlo Barberi portrays a lofty and handsome angel in mourning, leaning on a Latin cross arranged over a wreath. This work is a replica of a sculpture conserved in Europe. Note the skilled artisanship of the gravemarker decorations.

LITTLE PRAYING ANGEL, 20th century. This gravemarker is topped with one of the allegories of desolation most frequently found in Brazilian cemeteries, the little praying angel. Here the sculpture represents a white child with curly hair, wearing a wide gown trimmed with stylized flowers and filigree.

Entrance lane. FUNERARY URNS, 19th century. This is the largest memorial in the Bonfim Paulista cemetery. It comprises a tall funerary niche covered with a slightly inclined tombstone. The niche is set against a sidewall that sustains a large pillar, at the center, flanked by two urns. As it seems, the pillar once provided the base for a sculpture. The arabesques rendered in bas-relief that frame the wording on the stone are particularly noteworthy.

BORGES, Maria Elizia. Funerary Art in Brazil (1880-1930). Italian Marble Carver Craft in Ribeirão Preto. Belo Horizonte: C/ Arte, 2002.
CIONE, Rubem. History of Ribeirão Preto. Matão: Imago, 1987 (volume IV).
GOMES, F. Cravinhos Historical, Geographic, Agricultural.Ribeirão Preto: Typografia Salles, 1922.

Sites:

//www.bonfimpaulita.com.br/historia.htm (Sourced on April 27, 2005).

Credits:

Project coordination and research: M Elizia Borges.
Website design: Catu Design, 2008.
Researcher: Adriana M. Gianvechio Carvalho – CNPq.
Photography: M. Elizia Borges, 2005.

Contact:

maelizia@terra.com.br
Cemitério Municipal de Bonfim Paulista
Av. Izokiti Menoara, s/n. Bonfim Paulista – SP
Phone: +55 (16) 672-0012
Hours: daily from 7 AM to 6 PM.
Manager: Osvaldo Praga