Cimitero Monumentale di Milano

It might sound weird to some people to say “I went to visit a cemetery” (at least for me it does because I never usually go to cemeteries for “fun” or just to walk around). A cemetery is most likely not the first place that you will think of visiting when you go to a new city, and that’s probably why it took me 5 months to go to this part of Milan. I wouldn’t say that the Cimitero Monumentale is something that you absolutely need to see if you are in Milan for just a few days, but if you come here on Erasmus for a semester or a year, it can be worth going there during a morning or an afternoon when you are bored and have nothing to do.

The Cimitero Monumentale (which translates into Monumental Cemetery, and that gives you an idea of what this place would look like) is the second biggest cemetery in Milan, after the Cimitero Maggiore. I had seen quite a few pictures of it (mainly of the front chapel to be honest) and that’s what made me want to go there to check it out myself!

The cemetery was officially opened in 1866, so it’s been here for quite a few years. The main entrance takes you straight to the main, biggest and most impressive memorial chapel, the Famedio. It is made of marble and stones and inside there are some of the most honored citizens from Milan and Italy and general.

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The gardens of the cemetery are quite impressive too: first because of their size, which seems to be really big (the cemetery has a total size of 250 000 square meters), and second because of all the statues that were made and put on and in between the graves. Some of them are really big, some others are more touching because they represent children. Anyway, even though you are in a cemetery, the buildings, statues and the architecture are really remarkable.

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It is quite impressive and touching to see all the graves, tombstones and pictures all of the people that are now in this cemetery. Some of the walls are completely covered in tombstones, with messages and flowers. If you choose to visit it, you should remember that some people go there because they have someone buried in this cemetery, and therefore be respectful and quiet even if this is just another visit to you (which is not what some people did when I visited it, that’s why I think it's important to point it out).

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The entrance to the cemetery is free. You can visit it from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8am until 6 pm. It might sound silly but I guess it can get very creepy to visit a cemetery at night, so be careful at what time the sun goes down, especially during the winter since the cemetery will still be open at this time! But then of course, that's your choice.

You should go and visit the cemetery if you want to see beautiful architecture with the chapels and main buildings and have a really unusual view on the gardens with all the statues. For that visiting the cemetery is worth it.