What Père-Lachaise is to Paris, the Cementerio de la Recoleta is to Buenos Aires. Inaugurated in 1822, this was the city's first public cemetery. It occupies the garden of the former Convento de la Recoleta, and its 6ha are home to 4 800 marble tombs decorated with statues, constituting a small city. It contains the graves of many illustrious Argentines, most of whom may be little known outside of the country, with the exception of Eva Perón, whose tomb is the most visited.