Finisterre Cemetery

Constructing a cemetery at Cape Finisterre (a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia and deriving its name from the Latin 'Finisterrae', which literally means 'Land's End'), demands a site-sensitive approach and careful execution of the project. César Portela's starting point was the archaic layout of granite rocks that form the peninsula and the forces of nature that created this spot: the pulling of the atlantic wind, the light and the constant surf of the ocean. The result is an arrangement of buildings alongside a sloping (or rising) existing road that connects the surrounding hills with the lower beachside. Granite cubes form a small chapel and burial niches. Their visual connection to the sea reminds of ancient celtic graves that could be found nearby in Galicia and even though this consideration in observance of the modernist shape of boxes is not too obvious, it leads to a poetic atmosphere that can be perceived especially during foggy Galician weather.