Now THAT’s a cemetery!
Wednesday, May 16th, 2018
Cemeteries are different in Italy in a number of ways. Certainly they are more dense, usually because they are older and also because they are smaller. Same number of people, smaller area of land = density. They also are often quite beautiful. There is a class of cemeteries called “cimiteri monumentali” monumental cemeteries. Often full of sculpture, often done by reasonably famous artists. One of the top 5 of these is the Cimitero Certosa in Bologna. It’s a bit outside the city center and was founded in 1801 at the site of what had been a monastery of the order “Certosa” which in english that would be the Carthusian order of monks which still means nothing to me but with the help of Google I found that it is an order of monks founded in France in 1084. So there.
The entrance (at least one of them)
It is certainly interesting wandering around the cemetery. I’m always astounded to the monuments to the dead. Not just gravestones but what to me seem like major works of art plunked down over the bones of the long departed.
Who knows who is buried here. I think it’s a monument for parigiani (partisans) who battled the nazis in the second world war.
Majestic cemetery
Lots of folks here. Is the statue for everyone or just a really important person?
More modest final resting niches
Now let’s see, where exactly is Great Uncle Franco?
May 17th, 2018 at 8:01 am
I love cemeteries, too! Always so beautiful. I like to read all the grave markers, too, but I wiuld be out of luck in Italy. You always remind us that we need to return to beautiful Bologna, and we will! This Fall we are going to Sicily. Have you been? Best, Helen and Abby
May 28th, 2018 at 12:41 am
Yes, I went to Sicily for a few days in the fall of 2011. I liked it a lot. Great food in Palermo especially. If you’re in Palermo and rent a car be sure to take a train back to the airport and rent it there. It’s a nightmare getting out of Palermo.
May 17th, 2018 at 8:34 am
I have been a drawn to cemeteries since I was a child. I would take a paper bag lunch and go to the “parkâ€, which, unknown to Mama was a nearby cemetery. She was quite surprised when she went with me one day to the park. We always lived in very small and apparently safe small towns and were allowed to roam around. The statues and other art were part of the draw, but it was mainly the peace that drew me.
The cemetery you write about is quite beautiful.
May 28th, 2018 at 12:43 am
It is really beautiful. I always find cemeteries interesting. Here they often have a picture of the deceased on the little tombs – more like a drawer.