I asked why bodies are buried above ground here and didn’t get an answer I could understand. There is not a high water table as there is in New Orleans, where bodies are interred above ground. I did find out that the places above ground are rented by the year; if someone misses a payment the tomb can be opened up and bones shoved into a corner to make way for a better paying proposition.
The tiles used run the gamut from cheap 12″ square ones, to plenty of 4″ bathroom tiles, and on a few tombs, intricate patterns in small mosaics. Lots of good-looking angels.
This article appears in Apr 15-21, 2010.
I bet the reason is money.