2. Costa Path
Through the gate of the Ancient Cemetery we have access to the Costa Path, north-south axis and main street of Torrero Cemetery. It was planned in 1844 and contains several of the most interesting family vaults and tombs.
Surprised by the recent and incomprehensible demolition of the first family vault of the path, belonging to the Lahoz family (1880), we can find the first works made in the 20th century in the new Modernist style. First, the family vault of Antonio Morón Lázaro, -currently Gardeta-Guinda (1904)- with a special emphasis on the stone sculpture named "The Silence" made by Dionisio Lasuén. A woman, beside the access gate to the vault's crypt, asks for silence to walkers with its index finger at the mouth. The fence, made in wrought work with plants, is magnificent; the ornaments are not mere accessories but the protagonist.
Opposite, the family vault of Mariano Murillo and Miguel Portolés (1909) are sculptorically resolved as a scene. A female angel points out to a woman raising over a sloped wall representing the resurrection of the dead. The Modernist fence, made in wrought iron and stone, with some bright and colourful prismatic flowerpot holders with a two-coloured -black and white-cover, completes the sculpture.
Going alone the path, we also find three of the most interesting sculptures of the cemetery, made by the Catalan sculptor Enrique Clarasó (1857-1941), one of the most important Spanish sculptors of the beginning of the 20th century.
At the head of the Gines Family Vault (1905), we can see the sculpture named "Leaving this World", a statue made in marble and covered by a shroud showed through a sensual female body - representation of the passage of the soul to the other life. This work of Clarasó -clearly Modernist- is one of his most important works of funerary art, with sinuous and rolling forms, the veiled eroticism of the female body, its subtle message, and the closing made in wrought iron and stone.
Next to it, Memento Homo, vault of the Aladren Family (1903), is composed of a statue of a naked young man -only covered by his waist- who is carving his own tomb. This work is full of symbolism, which emphasizes its formality. The strength of the body, the description of the muscles and the representation of the effort are represented with realism. This work was awarded the medal of honour of the International Expo Paris 1990, and there exists several replicas. Opposite, we find "The Time", family vault of the Gómez and Sancho (1907), with a sit statue made also by Clarasó, representing the naked torso of an old man who is glancing through the symbolic book of time. As the previous work, this is also a realist sculpture with an exaggerated representation of the muscles. In both cases, the careful representation on high quality white veined marble can be highlighted.
At the crossroad with the Common Grave Path, we can highlight the vault of the Lara Faguas (1951). A high prism-shaped work, similar to a small temple, with a classic entablature and pediment made by the architect Antonio Chóliz. At the facade, we can see the stylized sculpture made in stone named "Ascending Christ", by the local sculptor Juan Antonio Bueno Bueno, an example of the forms and intentions of Zaragoza sculptors during the post-war period.
Going along this second stretch of the Costa Path, at the south side, we see Miguel Fleta´s Vault , a big sculpture but, in general, slightly devoided of charm. At the centre of the tomb, over a pedestal and in angle at one of its corners, is placed the bust in bronze of this Aragonese tenor, made by Gómez Ascaso to mark the 100 years of his birth.
More to the south, at the east side, we can see a simple tomb built in Calatorao black stone with the laconic epitaph "TO CAVIA". The tomb contains the remains of the local journalist and writer Mariano de Cavia (1865-1920). Opposite, we can see the Chapter´s Pantheon (built around 1877), a kind of small Neo-Roman octagonal temple.
At the end of the Path, we can see the blocks of tombs planned by Miguel Ángel Navarro (1924) in Neoclassic style with the sobriety of the Doric order. Turning left, on the east side by Path "D", we can see the pantheon of the art historian José Camón Aznar, picture 35, 1980) with an interesting Pietà in bronze made by the sculptor Venancio Blanco. This is the best example of Spanish sculpture of the end of the 20th century in Zaragoza´s cemetery. Unfortunately, it has been stolen and has not been found yet. Opposite, there is the vault of the family of Alejandro Palomar de la Torre (1907), new work of the sculptor Enrique Clarasó, in which two children pray before the tomb placed next to a beautiful modernist crucifix. Steel and stone complement each other in this work.
Walking back to Costa Path, we can gaze at Joaquín Costa Mausoleum (1914), built by public subscription after a contest of projects won by the writer Manuel Bescós and the painter Félix Lafuente. It consists of an artificial mountain made of stone and crowned by the bust-portrait of Costa made by Dionisio Lasuén, very sober and contained, contrasting with the grandiloquence of the whole group. Only some elements of its complex iconographic plan were built, such as a marble reproduction of the Parthenon, symbol of Costa´s enthusiasm for Classic Greece thought. A vertical tombstone closes the tomb with an epitaph written by Bescós. Architectural and sculptural elements give way to a more literary and pictorial design. The utopian proposal made by Lasuén to make a big statue of Costa over Mount Moncayo was replaced by this sculpture.
Costa´s Mausoleum -made in 1958 and a referent of the cemetery- finishes the route of the Ancient Cemetery and starts that of Costa. We can see a fenced-in area with the family vault of Eduardo Álvarez and Pilar Sarto (1978), a statue of a naked female in a sensual position placed on the tombstone, work in bronze made by the sculptor Miguel Cabré. From an architectural point of view, it is interesting the Briceño´s Family Vault, a modern and functional construction with a flat cover built in different materials: glass, marble and aluminium.