Cemetery Staglieno (Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno) description and photos - Italy: Genoa (Topic)

Staglieno cemetery (Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno) description and photos - Italy: Genoa. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno.

Photo & Description

The Staglieno Cemetery is a vast cemetery nestled in the hills in the Staglieno region of Genoa, renowned for its monumental sculptures. It is also one of the largest cemeteries in Europe - its territory is approximately 1 square km.

The creation of the cemetery project dates back to the reign of Napoleon, who, by his 1804 edict, prohibited the burial of the dead in churches and on the territory of cities. The first project was carried out by local architect Carlo Barabino in 1835. However, in the same year he died during a cholera epidemic that struck Genoa, and was unable to realize his idea. Giovanni Battista Rezasco, a student of Barabino, got down to business.

For the cemetery, the southeastern part of the Staglieno hill was bought - the territory of the small village of Villa Vaccarezza was the best fit, since it was poorly populated and was located in relative proximity to Genoa. Work on the creation of the cemetery began in 1844 and was completed in January 1851. On the opening day of the cemetery, the first 4 burial ceremonies were held on it.

Over time, the territory of the cemetery expanded, and today it includes an English cemetery, a Protestant cemetery and a Jewish cemetery. In the center stands the tall statue of Faith by Santo Varni. Opposite the statue is the domed Pantheon, a copy of the Pantheon in Rome, with a Doric portico flanked by two marble sculptures of the prophets Jeremiah and Job.

Since Genoa was once one of Italy's main educational centers, it attracted reformists and influential bourgeois. They then started the tradition of placing funerary sculptures on the graves, wishing to perpetuate the memory of themselves and their deeds. Today, at the Staglieno cemetery, you can see the tombstones of Oscar Wilde's wife Constance Lloyd, former Italian Prime Minister Ferruccio Parri, singer Fabrizio de Andre, politician Nino Bixio and one of the most important participants in the movement for the unification of Italy, Giuseppe Mazzini. Among the sculptors who worked on the creation of the funerary figures were Leonardo Bistolfi, Giulio Monteverde and Eduardo Alfieri.

The strong influence of the British Empire in the history of Genoa in the late 19th century is reflected in the existence of a separate English cemetery on the territory of Staglieno, in which they are buried British soldiers,

We also recommend reading Darwin Nature Reserve description and photos - Russia - North-West: Vologda Oblast

Topic: Cemetery Staglieno (Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno) description and photos - Italy: Genoa.