In 1936, Jose Franco created the Topiary Garden Cemetery on the grounds of an existing cemetery in Tulcan, Carchi, Ecuador. In 1984, the Ecuadorian Government designated the municipal cemetery as a National Patrimony.

Franco himself is buried here, and he left a written message that reads, “In Tulcán, a cemetery so beautiful that it invites one to die.”

Franco’s five sons continue the maintenance of the Topiary Garden Cemetery, which features different types of trees in a variety of exotic shapes… animals, archways, angels, geometric shapes, and Incan symbols. It is Tulcan’s major tourist attraction.

Tulcan is both the northernmost city in Ecuador and the country’s highest city at just under 3,000 meters above sea level. The capital of Carchi province, Tulcan is a thriving community of 83,000 people that serves the local agriculture industry which is based on the potatoes, vegetables, diary, and meat cattle that are raised on the incredibly fertile land in the area. Tulcan is also the place where the PanAmerican Highway crosses the border into southern Colombia.

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