Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

I'mma do a book about these things. I took this pic on the way to Perijá. Locals buld them on the site where someone in a car accident has died. It's a cenotaph. There's no body buried there. They usually have the shape of a chapel or church, and the name and date of death of the person(s) who died there. Inside there are usually offerings (candles, crucifixes, religious stamps, flowers, beer).

They're found in may countries. I'm working with the ones in Venezuela. They can be seen on the sidelines of many interstate highways and rural roads, where there are numerous automobile accidents. I did a documentary on this subject for my graduation thesis at LUZ university. Oh, the stories I heard.

Log in to comment! | Share this!

The People Have Spoken

6 Comments

Mar. 10, 2009 | 1:31 PM krumpingkatie says:

Aww, theyre sweet. I like the reason theyre built too :3

Mar. 10, 2009 | 8:10 PM richler says:

looks like a good tradition to me

Apr. 21, 2009 | 2:57 AM ElDavid responds:

do you practice any rituals?

May. 19, 2009 | 5:34 PM ilikeblamingcrap says:

lol. thats cool. BTW whats up fellow Patriot Program memba? You been blaming allot of spam?

May. 20, 2009 | 12:38 AM ElDavid responds:

As much as I can.

May. 19, 2009 | 5:35 PM ilikeblamingcrap says:

i hate the fact i'll never spell BLAMMING the first time i try in a day.

May. 20, 2009 | 12:39 AM ElDavid responds:

I got your meaning just the same.

Jun. 19, 2009 | 7:52 PM Soapbubble says:

That's actually pretty beautiful. I know that a lot of those countries believe in spiritual things, so things like offerings of different kinds aren't exactly weird, and monuments such as these are regular. Sounds like you're having an interesting trip!

I also laughed when I thought it said University of LULZ. Yes.

Jun. 20, 2009 | 1:29 AM ElDavid responds:

This type of construction commemorating the death of a person is called a cenotaph, It's basically the same as say the unknown soldier monument. The one's I'm focusing on are more personal cenotaphs, and they exista in many, many parts of the world. There are some very similar in Florida, USA.

Jul. 3, 2009 | 12:24 AM Chaps24 says:

People do something very similar in rural parts of Canada, but it's usually just wreaths, flowers, or crosses. I think a lot of people, religious or not, have a need to visit the place where their loved one died as part of their grieving process. Kinda cool the way they do it there.

Jul. 3, 2009 | 9:06 AM ElDavid responds:

Thanks for the info. I knew similar practices were carried out in other countries, but I did not know Canada was one of them.
¿Do they place these markings for people who died under specific circumstances? Here in Venezuela they're almost exclusively reserved for traffic-related deaths, usually on interstate highways.