Cimitero Monumentale

The Cimitero Monumentale in Milan was built in 1866. Six years before, the Municipality had launched a contest for the construction of the new cemetery, an idea that had been around since the first years of the 1800's but had never been realised. The competition was won by architect Carlo Maciachini whose project already illustrated that the new cemetery would have had other celebratory-like functions.

The Cimitero Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery) is considered a kind of open-air museum, not only because many illustrious personalities have been buried there, but also and above all because of the great artistic value of the architecture to be found there. As well as the initial works by Maciachini, there is the splendid archituecture of Luca Beltrami, Giuseppe Sommaruga, Ernesto Pirovano, Paolo Mezzanotte, and Piero Portaluppi, together with many other architects and sculptors.

Nowadays the Monumental Cemetery extends over an area of over 250,000 square metres and is divided into various areas accessible through small pathways, and along which visitors can find indications. At the entrance of the cemetery there is the Famedio, the Pantheon of the illustrious men from Milan, a greek cross shaped building accessible through a large stairway. Inside the Famedio some very important personalities for Milan and for the rest of Italy, have been buried, for example the author of "Promessi Sposi", Alessandro Manzoni, and the poet, Salvatore Quasimodo.

The Cimitero Monumentale is open every day except Monday and is close to the underground station of Garibaldi. In the area there are many receptive structures and it is easy to find a hotel in Milan, a city rich in all services dedicated to the tourist.