Cementiri de Sant Pere

Cementiri de Sant Pere is the main municipal cemetery of Badalona, located in the Les Guixeres neighborhood on Camí dels Xiprers. The necropolis spreads across a hillside overlooking the city and has served as the town's primary burial ground for nearly a century.

When was the cemetery built and where does its name come from?

Construction of the cemetery was approved in 1925, and the first burials took place in 1927. It was built during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, a period when Badalona carried out a number of major public works projects. The design was prepared by municipal architect Josep Fradera i Botey. The cemetery's name most likely honors Pere Sabaté i Curto, who was mayor of Badalona at the time.

The new cemetery replaced an older one dating from 1845 (last renovated in 1883), which had become too small for the city's growing population.

How was the cemetery designed for a hillside site?

A defining feature of Cementiri de Sant Pere is how its architecture adapts to the mountainous terrain rather than reshaping it. The burial niches are organized as cubes of constant dimensions arranged along the slope. A secondary ordering system of overlapping right triangles helps structure navigation and the layout of successive sections across the incline.

Paths wind around the hillside, offering varied points of access and visibility. The natural elevation of the terrain determines the final arrangement of niche groupings, while the gradually rising walkways open up views over the city below at intervals.

How has the cemetery changed over the decades?

Despite shifting funeral customs in society, Cementiri de Sant Pere remains the most-used cemetery in Badalona. The site has been expanded several times: in 1978, 1984, and 2009.

The 1984 extension, designed by architects Albert Viaplana and Heliodoro Piñón, covers the eastern side of the cemetery. It introduced isolated concrete blocks and emphasized an intimate, individual character for burial spaces through a more dispersed placement of niches, contrasting with the denser, regular layout from the 1920s.

The 2009 upgrade added 336 new niches along with accessibility improvements, including walkways designed to ease access to the upper sections of the sloped grounds. Each subsequent expansion was adapted to fit the existing structures, keeping the overall complex coherent even as different sectors reflect distinct architectural periods and styles.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Cementiri de Sant Pere located? It is located in the Les Guixeres neighborhood of Badalona, on Camí dels Xiprers, on a hillside above the city.

Who designed the cemetery? The original 1920s design was the work of municipal architect Josep Fradera i Botey. The later extension of the eastern side, completed in 1984, was designed by Albert Viaplana and Heliodoro Piñón.

Where does the cemetery's name come from? The name most likely refers to Pere Sabaté i Curto, who served as mayor of Badalona during the period the cemetery was built.

Is this the only cemetery in Badalona? No — the city also has the older Cementiri del Sant Crist, but Cementiri de Sant Pere is currently the most heavily used municipal cemetery in Badalona.

What stands out in the cemetery's architecture? The layout of niches as cubes combined with overlapping triangles, all adapted to the natural slope of the terrain, along with successive expansions that each brought distinct architectural approaches to different sections of the site.