Death Imitates Art

Cimitero delle Porte Sante sits above the Piazzale Michelangelo on the Viale Michelangiolo. If you’ve seen a beautiful shot of Florence taken from a distance, it was most likely taken at the Piazzale Michelangelo, the city’s most famous lookout point.

Most tourists make it to this spot, take their photos and head back down again. There is, after all, not much that would make somebody think there might be more up the hill. Some may know the church Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte, an 11th century church that sits further up the hill, and may be inclined to walk further to check it out.

But many will be surprised to find that once they pass through the gates, they’re in a cemetery. This is not generally something most tourists tend to seek out- unless you’re somebody like me. I set out in July to see San Miniato, but also look through the Cimitero delle Porte Sante (Sacred Doors Cemetery), a cemetery I had seen beautiful photos of already and knew I wanted to see for myself.
Finding it was interestingly complicated- the cemetery itself isn’t visible until you’re walking through the gates to San Miniato, so I spent some time wandering around the monastery walls and accidentally discovering monuments in the woods.

But once I figured out I needed to begin entry to San Miniato to be in the cemetery, I found myself at arguably the best view of Florence- better even than the view from further down the hill where all the tourists gathered.

The Cimitero delle Porte Sante is one of the most unique cemeteries in the world. Founded in the early 1800’s, the cemetery holds some of the most beautiful and creative headstones and sculptures in a range of styles, from medieval to art deco.

The cemetery contains a number of notable monuments and residents.
The statue of a woman weeping at the doors of a mausoleum is a well-photographed site, as is the dancing Mazzone siblings. Mario Mazzone died as a pilot in WWII, and a year later was joined by his sister Maria Mazzone, who died just a few days before her wedding.

Other notable figures are authors such as Carlo Lorenzini- aka Carlo Collodi, the author of Pinocchio- and Vasco Pratolini. Artists Libero Andreotti, Pietro Annigoni, and Ottone Rosai also lie here, alongside important Florentine figures such as Giovanni Spadolini and filmmaker Mario Cecchi Gori, father of Italian cuisine Pellegrino Artusi, fashion designer Enrico Coveri and Felice Le Monnier.

The huge range of sculptures and architectural art displayed in Cimitero delle Porte Sante shows the wishes of the living to remember the dead by their lives. In these pieces of funerary art, we see glimpses into the lives these people led – they created, they celebrated, they loved and they were somebody. They aren’t just names on a headstone- we get to see part of their story.