ローマ・フィレンツェ・ベネチア・ミラノのレストラン、ホテルなど観光情報を紹介 イタリア観光ブログ

Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery contains possibly the highest density of famous and important graves anywhere in the world.

Here you can find the graves of the poets Shelley and Keats, of many painters, sculptors and authors, a number of scholars, several diplomats, Goethe's only son, and Antonio Gramsci.

The Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners in Testaccio, is also widely known as the Protestant Cemetery although it contains the graves of many Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians. It is one of the oldest burial grounds in continuous use in Europe, having started to be used around 1730.

It was also referred to in the past as ‘The English Cemetery’ because of the many English people buried there.

There are lots of elaborate and eclectic graves and monuments surrounded by cypress trees and flowers.

Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, the little Cemetery was something of a pilgrimage site, Oscar Wilde visited the Cemetery, proclaiming it "the holiest place in Rome."

The Cemetery is a private one but is operated in accordance with national and municipal regulations concerning cemeteries and historic sites.

Late in the eighteenth century, there was a European revolution in funerary customs. Landscaped cemeteries (inspired by Romantic English gardens as Elysian Fields) and other separate burial grounds were created, mostly outside cities.

At the same time there was a growing need in Italy to provide burial space for non-Catholics. According to the ecclesiastical laws of the Catholic Church, Protestants can be buried neither in Catholic churches nor in consecrated ground. So, Non-Catholic burial places were created.

The Cemetery for non-Catholics in Rome dates back to at least 1732 .

The Cemetery is adjacent to two ancient monuments – the Pyramid of Caius Cestius dating to approximately 12 B.C. and the Aurelian wall.

From the middle of the eighteenth to the middle of the twentieth centuries more than four thousand persons were buried at the Cemetery.

Almost one quarter (840) were North Americans. The rest were mostly Europeans.

In 1918 the Cemetery was declared a Zona Monumentale d’Interesse Nazionale.

Although the Cemetery was originally intended for Protestants and those of Orthodox faith, in 1953 the interpretation was broadened to foreigners who were "non-Catholics." Space had to be provided for Jews, Protestants, and others.

The Cemetery population is diverse and rich in writers, painters, sculptors, historians, archaeologists, diplomats, scientists, architects and poets, many of international eminence.

There are lots of Protestant and eastern Orthodox graves, other faiths well represented include Islam, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Inscriptions are in more than fifteen languages – Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Church-Slavonic, Japanese, Russian, Greek and Avestic, often engraved in their own non-Roman scripts.

The Cemetery is remarkable for the great concentration of artists, writers, scholars and diplomats who have been buried in it. Many had settled in Rome for their work, others had chosen to live in Italy, and others died while visiting the country.

The graves most visited are those of the English poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley ; the son of Goethe; Antonio Gramsci , the Italian political philosopher; and the Russian painter Karl Brullov. But there are many others very interesting for their occupant or for the design of the tomb.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Burials continue to be made today.

The site is dependent on donations, fundraising and volunteers to keep the Cemetery the quite and beautiful place that it is.

The Cemetery can be visited daily.

Main Entrance
Via Caio Cestio, 6
00153 Roma

Opening hours
Monday-Saturday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm (last entrance:4.30 pm)
Sundays and public holidays 9.00 am to 1.00 pm (last entrance:12.30 pm)

The Non-Catholic Cemetery welcomes group visits.

Groups are kindly asked to leave a donation of at least €3 per person. All donations go towards the upkeep of this important historical site.

The Cemetery can provide a guide in Italian, English or German for groups of 5 to 20 people. The tours last approximately one hour.

Buses
3-75-23-60-95-280-30-175

Metro
Underground B line to Piramide

I suggest you to visit this Holy Place..I found it really fascinating!

I enjoyed it very much!

Claudia