Cementerio Presbítero Matías Maestro

It was created by Law on December 3, 1906 and inaugurated on September 8, 1908 during the government of José Pardo y Barreda. The budget was stipulated at Lp. 8,000.[8] The work was executed in stone and marble by the architect Emile Robert with a marked eclectic style[9] and crowned with a marble reproduction of the Gloria Victis, the work of the sculptor Antonin Mercié.[10]

By Supreme Decree No. 13-GM of October 1, 1953, it was decided to integrate it under the custody of the Center for Historical Military Studies of Peru, as a Patriotic Sanctuary. On July 25, 1986, the monument was expanded to bury the remains of more combatants, adding a second basement.[9]

In 2002 restoration work was carried out to return it to its original appearance.[9]

Despite having been conceived and erected to contain the remains of combatants from the War of the Pacific, the remains of figures who participated in that conflict but who did not die in combat, such as Andrés Avelino Cáceres or Miguel Iglesias, have been buried in the mausoleum.[7]

In 1987, Alipio Ponce Vásquez, a combatant in the 1941 Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, was declared a national hero through Law No. 24658, which granted him the title, and also provided for his burial in the mausoleum. This did not happen due to the mausoleum being of exclusive use for participants in the War of 1879. In 2005, the Peruvian Congress authorized the burial of the remains of Major Luis Alberto García Rojas, killed in the Cenepa War, which took place in 1997.[7]

On the other hand, there are commemorative plaques that remember heroes of other wars, such as César Pinglo Pinglo and Bernardo Villalta Luna (who died in the Battle of La Pedrera of 1911), and José Quiñones Gonzales and Alipio Ponce (of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941).[7]

The Crypt of Heroes is a circular mausoleum over 30 metres high, with three levels, one main and two basements.[11] It has a large dome that crowns it, and is surrounded by ornaments and neoclassical columns. Inside it is covered in marble with black veining; stained glass windows were also added.[8]

In total, it contains 295 identified remains, 29 of them in sarcophagi and 265 in niches, as well as 2,065 wall plaques with names of combatants or unidentified victims.[9]

This level, which is the entrance to the mausoleum, is finely covered in marble. The sarcophagi of the greatest Peruvian heroes of the war are: Miguel Grau, who died in the battle of Angamos on October 8, 1879 aboard the Huáscar armour-clad monitor, and Colonel Francisco Bolognesi, defender of Arica, who fell in battle on June 7, 1880. In addition, marble plaques with the names of people who supported or participated in the conflict have been installed on the walls.[8]

In the first basement, which is accessed by a side staircase, remains were buried in 234 niches scattered around the entire contour. In the central part appears the sarcophagus of Mariscal Andrés Avelino Cáceres. There are also five ossuaries which contain remains of anonymous combatants who died during the naval battles in Angamos, Iquique, Antofagasta and Callao, and those found on the battlefields of Tarapacá, Tacna and Arica, San Juan and Chorrillos, Miraflores, Huamachuco and San Pablo.[8]

On the last level there are 29 sarcophagi, 16 plaques and 40 white marble niches that contrast with the black marble on the floor and walls. Here lie Alfonso Ugarte and other heroes of the War of the Pacific, as well as the remains of Luis Alberto García Rojas, buried in 2019.[8]