Sailor's cemetery

Located at No. 15, Carrer Garbí, the cemetary is a shining example of Mediterranean neoclassical architecture, with the characteristic triangular topped niches, whitewashed with lime. It was built in 1835 and consists of an entrance atrium, a second enclosure with many niches, and a third section with four pantheons. The chapel is the Maranges family vault. There are several graves of famous people in L'Escala, including that of the writer Caterina Albert i Paradís, Victor Catala, and the photographer Josep Esquirol. Declared a monument in 1974, it is currently part of the National Cultural Heritage.

Me’n vaig al cementiri del meu poble (I go to the town cemetery)

bell en sa solitud, senzill i noble (Beautiful in solitude, simple and noble)

Tot ell parat de blanc, color de pau (All in white, the colour of peace)

Sota el sol esplendent i un gran cel blau. (Under the brilliant sun and the wide blue sky)

M’hi passejo tot sol pel cementiri (I walk alone through the cemetery)

Com un escarabat per dins d’un lliri (Like a beetle inside a flower)

I m’apar que és quelcom profanador (And it seems profane to me)

De mos passos inquiets la lleu remor. (That my restless steps make a sound)

El terrer, adobat amb carn humana (The earth, nourished with human flesh)

és divís en jardins de folla ufana (is divided in gardens bursting with leaves)

i entorn d’ells, en fileres apretats, (and around them, in tight lines,)

els nínxols van traient llurs blancs esclats. (the niches show in flashes of white.)

Dintre els nínxols i sota els bells jardins (WIthin the niches and under the pretty gardens)

tinc un món enterrat de conveïns (is a buried world of fellow villagers)

d’homes, dones, infants que he conegut (men, women and children I've known)

i que han mort un a un sens fer traüt. (and who have died without much tragedy)

Víctor Català