Beautiful cemetery Chimitero Monumental

Momento mori… Beautiful cemetery Chimitero Monumental in Milan

The cemetery Chimitero Monumental in Milan is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe. It is just a museum of sculpture and architecture in the open, built in 1866 by Italian architect and restorer Carlo Francesco Maciachini (2 April 1818 – 10 June 1899). Meanwhile, other notable works of Maciachini are restorations of historic churches in several cities of northern Italy. In fact, the cemetery has a wide range of both contemporary and classical Italian sculptures, from Egyptian, neo-Roman and Byzantine over neo-Gothic to more modern styles. Among them – Art Nouveau, modernist and even post-modern, as well as Greek temples, elaborate obelisks, and other original works such as a scaled-down version of Trajan’s Column.

Davide Campari’s (of the alcohol group Campari) grave is an impressive sculpted reproduction of the Last Supper made by Giannino Castiglioni (1884-1971), who created a personal interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper

Noteworthy, many of the tombs belong to noted industrialist dynasties, sometimes eponymous of world famous businesses and brands. Here are buried the famous composers, musicians, poets, writers and artists. In particular, Monumental Chimitero keeps ashes of the great Giuseppe Verdi, musician Vladimir Horowitz, conductor Arturo Toscanini, an artist and designer Bruno Munari. The location is quiet, sad and very beautiful.

Beautiful cemetery Chimitero Monumental

Entrance to the beautiful cemetery

Last Supper sculptural composition. Chimitero Monumental in Milan – a museum of sculpture and architecture in the open

Detail of sculptural composition The Last Supper. Chimitero Monumental in Milan

The funeral and the subsequent scene of the movie I Am Love (Italian: Io sono l’amore), 2009 Italian film directed by Luca Guadagnino were filmed in the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano