Cimitero Monumentale di Milano (Monumental Cemetery of Milan) is a large cemetery in Milan. Famous for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments, the cemetery is an open-air museum, which definitely deserves to be on the list of the most important tourist attractions of the city. SHORT HISTORY In 1837, the Austrian administration of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom requested the construction of a new cemetery to replace the six pre-existing Milanese cemeteries. The winner of the final competition organized by the Municipality was the project of the architect Carlo Maciachini, designed in 1864 in an Eclectic style, with Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque references. The inaugural blessing was given by Monsignor Giuseppe Calvi on November 2, 1866, in the presence of the mayor of Milan, Antonio Beretta. On the same day, the first burial took place, that of the body of the composer Gustavo Noseda. The official opening of the cemetery took place on January 1, 1867. Since then, the cemetery was gradually enriched with funerary works of classical and contemporary genre. ART AND ARCHITECTURE For the high artistic value of sculptures, tombs, funeral shrines and other works inside, the Milan Monumental Cemetery is among the most artistically and historically Read more [...]
All Cemeteries
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is a funeral monument in Ravenna, located in Via Galla Placidia, in the northern part of the historical center of the city. SHORT HISTORY OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA According to tradition, the structure was built by Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, and mother of the Emperor Valentinian III, for herself, her husband Constantius III and her brother Honorius. She was Queen consort to Ataulf, King of the Visigoths, between 414 and 415, Empress consort to Constantius III between 417 and 421, and managed the government administration as a regent during the early reign of Valentinian III. Although the legend has it that the body of Galla Placidia was brought back to Ravenna and placed in a sarcophagus in the mausoleum, it was almost certain that she died in Rome in 450, and she was buried in the Honorian Mausoleum. The mausoleum was probably used as a chapel of the Church of the Holy Cross (Chiesa di Santa Croce), located nearby. In 1996, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites entitled Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna. ARCHITECTURE OF THE MAUSOLEUM Read more [...]
Camposanto Monumentale
Camposanto Monumentale is a monumental cemetery in Pisa, located in Piazza dei Miracoli, near the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. SHORT HISTORY According to tradition, the Archbishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi filled the interior of Campo Santo (Holy Field) with soil from Golgotha, brought by Pisan ships returning from the fourth crusade. In reality, the cemetery was created to collect various burials and sarcophagi spread around the Cathedral. Camposanto Monumentale was built starting with 1277 by Giovanni di Simone. After the death of the architect and the crisis caused by the Pisan defeat in the battle of Meloria of 1284, the works were slowed down. Starting with 1360, the walls were decorated with frescoes with subjects related to the theme of life and death. During this period, Buonamico Buffalmacco painted the Triumph of Death, and Francesco Traini the Crucifixion. Shortly afterwards, Giovanni Scorcialupi painted the frescoes with the Stories of Christ, while Stefano da Firenze painted an Assumption above the eastern door. The cycle was continued a few decades later by Andrea Bonaiuti, Antonio Veneziano and Spinello Aretino. Near the end of the 14th century, Taddeo Gaddi painted Stories of Job, and Piero di Puccio painted Stories of the Old Testament. Read more [...]
