Cimitero Monumentale di Milano

The Cimitero Monumentale [tʃimiˈtɛːro monumenˈtaːle] ("Monumental Cemetery") is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments.

Cimitero Monumentale di Milano
Monumental Cemetery of Milan

1 January 1867

Milan

Italy

45°29′09″N 9°10′45″E / 45.485831°N 9.179056°E / 45.485831; 9.179056

Non-denominational

City of Milan

25 hectares (62 acres)

Monumental Cemetery

Designed by the architect Carlo Maciachini (1818–1899), it was planned to consolidate a number of small cemeteries that used to be scattered around the city into a single location.

Officially opened in 1866, it has since then been filled with a wide range of contemporary and classical Italian sculptures as well as Greek temples, elaborate obelisks, and other original works such as a scaled-down version of the Trajan's Column. Many of the tombs belong to noted industrialist dynasties, and were designed by artists such as Adolfo Wildt, Giò Ponti, Arturo Martini, Agenore Fabbri, Lucio Fontana, Medardo Rosso, Giacomo Manzù, Floriano Bodini, and Giò Pomodoro.

The main entrance is through the large Famedio, a massive Hall of Fame-like Neo-Medieval style building made of marble and stone that contains the tombs of some of the city's and the country's most honored citizens, including that of novelist Alessandro Manzoni.

The Civico Mausoleo Palanti designed by the architect Mario Palanti is a tomb built for meritorious "Milanesi", or citizens of Milan. The memorial of about 800 Milanese killed in Nazi concentration camps is located in the center and is the work of the group BBPR, formed by leading exponents of Italian rationalist architecture that included Gianluigi Banfi.

The cemetery has a special section for those who do not belong to the Catholic religion and a Jewish section.

Near the entrance there is a permanent exhibition of prints, photographs, and maps outlining the cemetery's historical development. It includes two battery-operated electric hearses built in the 1920s.

(1918–1955), Formula One champion driver

Alberto Ascari

(1888–1925), Grand Prix champion driver

Antonio Ascari

(1927–2012), architect

Gae Aulenti

(1903–1978), politician

Lelio Basso

(1859–1937), sculptor

Ernesto Bazzaro

(1854–1933), architect

Luca Beltrami

(1859–1939), industrialist

Antonio Bernocchi

(1812–1886), revolutionary, physician

Agostino Bertani

(1842–1918), composer, librettist

Arrigo Boito

(1836–1914), architect

Camillo Boito

(1928–1996), comedian and actor

Gino Bramieri

(1828–1882), drink maker

Gaspare Campari

(1930–2009), journalist

Candido Cannavò

(1954–2016), entrepreneur, political activist

Gianroberto Casaleggio

(1801–1869), philosopher, patriot

Carlo Cattaneo

(1911–1997), editor, writer

Camilla Cederna

(1924–1991), actor

Walter Chiari

(1921–2003), opera tenor

Franco Corelli

(1923–2019), actress

Valentina Cortese

(1949–2020), art historian

Philippe Daverio

(1926–1972), publisher, businessman

Giangiacomo Feltrinelli

(1830–1887), journalist, music critic

Filippo Filippi

(1926–2016), 1997 Nobel prize in Literature

Dario Fo

(1936–2021), ballet dancer

Carla Fracci

(1939–2003), singer-songwriter, comedian

Giorgio Gaber

(1929–2014), jazz pianist, composer, conductor

Giorgio Gaslini

(1922–2005), priest, founder of "Communion and Liberation"

Luigi Giussani

(1919–1981), theatrical impresario

Paolo Grassi

(1791–1882), painter

Francesco Hayez

(1903–1989), pianist

Vladimir Horowitz

(1870–1916), founder of A.C. Milan football club

Herbert Kilpin

(1857–1925), political activist

Anna Kuliscioff

(1815–1878), painter

Domenico Induno

(1935–2013), singer-songwriter

Enzo Jannacci

(1914–2005), director

Alberto Lattuada

(1859–1932), painter

Emilio Longoni

(1818–1899), architect

Carlo Maciachini

(1932–2016), football player

Cesare Maldini

(1785–1873), poet, novelist, considered the founder of modern Italian language; tomb located at the very center of the Famedio

Alessandro Manzoni

(1876–1944), poet and main founder of the futurist movement

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

(1910–1979), football player and manager

Giuseppe Meazza

(1931–2009), poet

Alda Merini

(1887–1979), politician

Lina Merlin

(1873–1951), architect

Giulio Mongeri

(1950–1994), fashion designer

Franco Moschino

(1907–1998), artist

Bruno Munari

(1927–2010), graphic designer

Bob Noorda

(1910–2014), opera soprano

Magda Olivero

(1905–1994), soubrette, actress, singer

Wanda Osiris

(1881–1946), painter

Giuseppe Palanti

(1885–1978), architect

Mario Palanti

(1918–2007), communist partisan

Giovanni Pesce

(1810–1878), writer

Giulietta Pezzi

(1810–1876), librettist, poet

Francesco Maria Piave

(1930–2002), artist

Giò Pomodoro

(1834–1886), composer

Amilcare Ponchielli

(1891–1979), architect, industrial designer, artist

Gio Ponti

(1901–1968), 1959 Nobel prize in Literature

Salvatore Quasimodo

(1929–2013), political activist, actress

Franca Rame

(1858–1928), sculptor

Medardo Rosso

(1905–1966), insurer

Piero Sacerdoti

(1882–1949) Mother Superior who helped the Italian resistance movement

Rosa Chiarina Scolari

(1815–1878), poet, opera composer, librettist

Temistocle Solera

(1826–1880) and his wife Angiolina Ortolani-Tiberini (1834–1913), opera singers.

Mario Tiberini

(1867–1957), conductor and cellist

Arturo Toscanini

(1877–1961), publisher

Giovanni Treccani

(1857–1932), politician

Filippo Turati

(1909–1999), writer, politician

Leo Valiani

(1868–1931), sculptor

Adolfo Wildt

Signals located throughout the cemetery point visitors to several of the most remarkable tombs and monuments. Some of the persons interred in the cemetery include:

Mayors of Milan

Mausoleum of Antonio Bernocchi by Giannino Castiglioni (1930s)

The Last Supper, Campari family tomb

Arturo Toscanini's tomb

Morgagni family monument

Cemetery section from above

Ossuary

Arcades

Galleries

in Genoa

Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno

the site of the city's monumental cemetery

Certosa di Bologna

in Sardinia

Cimitero Monumentale di Milano