Has anyone visited the Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa?
It seems to have been a tourist attraction even back in 1869 when Mark Twain visited and wrote about it in The Innocents Abroad (which I'm currently rereading).
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1594 posts
Yes, we have and enjoyed it very much. It is not stuffed full of over-the-top melodramatic spectacles as is the monumental cemetery in Milan (the best for such things we've ever seen), but lots of interesting tombs to see. When we were there a few years ago, the sculptures had not been dusted for a very long time, and we liked the contrast between the almost black dust and the white marble or gray stone. Added some more drama. There's a bus from Genoa.
Posted by
OP
Wisconsin
571 posts
Thank you! It'll go onto my list!
Posted by
Boston
1804 posts
Staglieno is one of the most well-known, but there are many other cemeteries called 'Cimitero Monumentale' in Italy, as it was the way to go, so to speak, in ages past. Milan has an excellent one which includes a large Jewish section, and there are such cemeteries in Torino and Amalfi and in Rome (Cimitero Monumentale del Verano). Even smaller cities may have one, such as one we visited in Lavagna, Liguria. Check the hours as we found Carrara's was closed for lunch (huh?).
Posted by
1 posts
My fiancé’s mother is buried there and I find it a DISGUSTING invasion of privacy when people flood the gates from a bus tour. We went to pay our respects and encountered a huge (no exaggeration) mob of people with cameras ready to tour the grounds.
Tell me…how would you feel, as a mourner, to be on your knees crying over a lost loved one only to have a crowd of people taking snapshots???
Yes it’s beautiful, but it’s also a sacred place. Have some respect!!!