Monumental Cemetery of Lecco – Italy

Inaugurated on August 6, 1882 and designed by the engineer Enrico Gattinoni, the Monumental Cemetery of Lecco represents a real open-air museum.
It contains works in marble and bronze by well-known local and non-local artists, which date back also to the late nineteenth century, including Giulio Branca (1850 -1926) whose works vary between late-classicism models and other pictorial styles, Francesco Confalonieri (1850 – 1925 ) classicist and with the greatest number of works present, or Giannino Castiglioni (1884 – 1971) of which Lecco also houses the imposing monument to the Fallen on the lakefront.

The fields designated as municipal burial grounds are flanked on three sides by private chapels, all joined by a walkway.
The beautiful Neo-Gothic portico is an elegant exception to the dominating neoclassical style of the funerary architecture. On the far side, an octagonal oratorio stands at the center topped by a pavilion vault. In 1901 the entrance atrium and facade, designed by engineer Cesare Mazzocchi, was built in the Art Nouveau style.
Several historical figures rest here, including the famous Abbot Antonio Stoppani, geologist and naturalist from Lecco and writer of the “Bel Paese”, the brothers Carlo and Giuseppe Torri-Tarelli who participated in the Expedition of the Thousand, and Antonio Ghislanzoni, the Lecco librettist of Aida by worldwide famous composer Giuseppe Verdi.
For its artistic value it has been included in the European Cemeteries Route since 2010 together with the splendid cemetery of Laorca.