The funeral rites for Fidel Castro lasted several days, including a mass gathering at Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana on November 29. After his remains had laid in state in the Cuban capital for two days, four days followed in which Castro’s ashes were transported as part of a caravan from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, a 900 kilometer (559 mile) journey which the Havana Times noted was planned to echo in reverse the “Caravan of Freedom” of 1959, a march which Castro had led to commemorate Cuban independence.
On December 4, 2016, Fidel Castro’s remains were taken by cortege past crowds of mourners to the Santa Ifigenia cemetery. There, in a private ceremony, the revolutionary’s ashes were interred in a recess in a large boulder, which was then marked with a metal plaque that reads simply: “Fidel.” According to Cuba Debate, it was a short and “solemn” affair as the controversial leader was laid to rest among many other notable Cuban revolutionaries.
