The city's silent double: public cemeteries in Angola from the enlightenment to the scramble

Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate that an historical understanding of the introduction of public cemeteries in Angola is feasible, although dependent on the study of a wider context: the “Lusophone Atlantic”. Taking this premise into account, before analyzing how the new Romantic ideals clashed at Luanda and Benguela (the two major Angolan urban spaces of the 19th century) with the ongoing Baroque traditions of the local elites – as well as the native costumes – a brief overview of what went on at Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro during the Romantic cemetery “revolution” is essayed.