Staglieno Monumental Cemetery

Staglieno Monumental Cemetery occupies a hillside in the Staglieno district of northeast Genoa, beside the Bisagno valley, and is one of the great cemeteries of Europe. It was designed in 1835 by the architect Carlo Barabino, who died in the cholera epidemic of 1835, and the project was continued by Giovanni Battista Resasco, who completed the main structures. The cemetery opened in 1851, replacing smaller burial grounds as Genoa's population grew. Its plan is Neoclassical: a great semicircular colonnade and gallery surrounds the central Pantheon-like chapel, with long porticoes lined with family tombs, and further terraces climb the slope behind. The distinctive feature is the sculpture. Through the second half of the 19th century the Genoese bourgeoisie commissioned lifelike marble figures from leading sculptors, in the Realist and Verist manner, showing mourners, families and deceased men and women in detailed contemporary dress, with lace, fabric and jewellery carved in stone. Well-known works include the tomb of Caterina Campodonico, the nut seller, and numerous monuments in the Galleria Monumentale. Staglieno is also the burial place of Giuseppe Mazzini, the Genoese leader of the Risorgimento, whose tomb stands in the Pantheon section of the Mazzini zone. Other notable figures buried here include Constance Lloyd, wife of Oscar Wilde. In the 19th century it became a stop on the cemetery grand tour for travellers including Mark Twain, who wrote admiringly of its sculpture. The cemetery has been restored in sections, with conservation of marble sculptures and the Neoclassical structures being a continuing task, and some zones remain in uneven condition. It is still an active burial ground, so visitors should behave quietly and respectfully. The experience is a long outdoor walk with the monuments as the exhibit, ordered by gallery and terrace rather than strict chronology. Staglieno is best understood as a record of the social ambitions and artistic tastes of Genoa's merchant class during the city's industrial rise.