The Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno in Genua, Italy is a very special cemetery in Europe. It is not exceptional that those places contain cultural monuments and pieces of art but this place is almost an outdoor museum with fine arts.
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It is, in fact, one of the biggest cemeteries in Europa and has a reputation since its opening in 1851 for monumental statues. This graveyard came into existence by Napoleonic law in 1806; the French dictator wanted all cemeteries outside the city walls. The Emperor was a total control freak in all civil matters and even dictated which artworks were in accord with his regulation.
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The cemetery grew exponentially and more and more sections were organized: like an English, Jewish and Protestant one. Many famous people got a resting place over the years. Other notable people visited the graveyard frequently like Mark Twain and Friedrich Nietzsche. Staglieno is home to the last resting place of Oscar Wilde’s wife
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It is amazing to see how many beautiful monuments and artworks are present in this place of silence and reflection. Besides a place for the departed is became an oasis of tranquility and an everlasting tribute to the arts. It is a proof that the arts play a major role in the human society, in life as in death. It is proof that the arts still have a special relationship with the afterlife, an emotional bonding that often expresses itself in beautiful art.
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Staglieno is a place where the beauty of life symbolized by the most splendid artworks is in contrast with the silence of those who are departed.
Photo Credit: unusualplaces.org
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