I have been to Pere Lachaise in Paris more times than I can count. I thought I knew what a famous cemetery felt like. Recoleta in Buenos Aires is something else entirely.

The first story that stopped me was Rufina Cambaceres. She died at 19 from what doctors called a heart attack. She was buried. Then, when the coffin was opened later, the evidence showed she had been alive when they put her in the ground. Argentina changed its burial laws because of her case, requiring a 24 hour waiting period before any burial.

Then there is Liliana Crociati, who died at 26 in an avalanche on her honeymoon. Her family built a neo-gothic chapel with a life-sized statue of Liliana in her wedding dress, accompanied by her dog. Her dog is also there, sculpted beside her, because he refused to eat after she died.

Evita Peron is buried here too, but not in the way you might expect. Her tomb is 5 meters underground. Her body was stolen after her death, hidden for over two decades, and moved across multiple countries before finally being returned to Argentina. The depth of the vault is a direct response to that history.

Throughout the cemetery there are symbols everywhere if you know what to look for. Inverted torches mean a life ended but memory remains. Broken columns mean a life cut short. Freemason signs appear on several tombs, which surprised me more than anything else.

Allow at least two hours here. Walk slowly. Read the names. Every tomb has a story and most of them are stranger than anything a novelist would dare to write.