About the cemetery
Only in 1855 does the situation of the Porto cemeteries begins to change, since there is a second great cholera epidemic.
The civil authorities managed to close the private cemeteries, which were in bad condition, and simultaneously had a new municipal cemetery built rather hastily: Agramonte.
In a first stage, this cemetery was mostly used to bury the cholera victims. Since there were two municipal cemeteries, the population began to see Prado do Repouso as a more dignified cemetery, considering it wasn’t improvised as Agramonte was (whose chapel was made of wood). Furthermore, some “bold people” had already erected monuments in Prado do Repouso. The way was open for monuments to be erected in the Prado do Repouso Cemetery, just as it happened in the Lapa Cemetery.
The Private Sections of Municipal Cemeteries
Following the 1855 epidemic, all the cemeteries belonging to the Brotherhoods had to be reopened, although the maintenance of those in no condition was increasingly less consensual. In a lengthy and difficult process, each Brotherhood made a deal with the Porto City Council to acquire private sections in the municipal cemeteries. With the restructuring of the Agramonte Cemetery, around 1869, other Brotherhoods of the city established their private cemeteries there. Of the private catholic cemeteries already in existence, only those of Lapa and Bonfim remained in their own location, because although they were not public, their design was urban and modern (especially that of Lapa), standing on elevated ground and reasonably away from houses. Porto now has eight cemeteries with private sections, which is unique in the country.
Contacts
Largo de Agramonte (main entrance): Rua Joao Martins Branco (only on special occasions, 1st and 2nd of November)
4150-031 Porto Portugal
Tel. +351 22 6066604
Tel/Fax: +351 22 6067583
cemiterio-agramonte@cm-porto.pt
Tourist information
http://www.portoturismo.pt/pt/default.asp
City Hall site
http://www.cm-porto.pt/
Porto Cemeteries information
http://www.cm-porto.pt:8081/ambiente/cemiterios.htm