275. The End of the Line in Milano #2

Following on from my previous blog post, we now go outside the huge Civico Mausoleo Palanti and wander the grounds of the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano ... 
 

The Monumental Cemetery, is so much more than just a simple graveyard, it is an extraordinary “outdoor museum“, where it seems as if some of the great sculptors of the 1900s were called together to elaborate and reflect on a particularly demanding theme - death.

 
The Cemetery is massive in all its aspects of death and dying - and as I paced the 250 thousand square meters of graves, family tombs and pathways with a handful of fellow-tourists, I get the feeling of peace, silence and tranquillity, rather than sadness.

The cemetery is comprised of three distinct zones: the central one hosts the tombs of catholic families, another is reserved for Jewish persons and the third area is dedicated to non-Catholics - however being non-denominational, I just cruised around in the hot sun not interested in the particular beliefs of the deceased but rather more in their individual histories and stories as often portrayed in the theme of their burial.

 

 This was my favourite family tomb - 

I would be quite happy spending the after-life 

in this simple two-storied bungalow ...

 

 ... and inside looking upwards ...

There are also three common fields for children, with burials between 1873 and 1894, 

with small gravestones bearing just their name and date of death on the headstone.

... a beautiful experience in an immaculately maintained museum  ...