Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery contains possibly the highest density of famous and important graves anywhere in the world. It is the final resting-place 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, a founding father of European Communism, to name only a few. [Notable Graves] The Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners in Testaccio, Rome (to give it its full name) 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 1716 [History]. In 2016 we celebrated 300 years of burials at the foot of the Pyramid. [2016 Celebration]. The Cemetery population is both exceptionally diverse and exceptionally rich in writers, painters, sculptors, historians, archaeologists, diplomats, scientists, architects and poets, many of international eminence. In addition to the significant number of Protestant and eastern Orthodox graves, other faiths that are represented include Islam, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Tomb inscriptions are in more than fifteen languages � Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Church-Slavonic, Japanese, Russian, Greek and Avestic, often engraved in their own non-Roman scripts. To find the grave of someone who was buried in the Cemetery, go to Databases. It is hard to think of another urban site quite so glorious. Its towering cypress trees and abundant flowers and greenery shelter a heterogeneity of elaborate and eclectic graves and monuments, nestled on a slope in the shadows of the Pyramid of Cestius (dated between 18 and 12 B.C.) and adjacent to a section of Rome's ancient Aurelian wall [Other Monuments Nearby]. "It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place," wrote Shelley, not long before he drowned and was buried here. Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, the little Cemetery was something of a pilgrimage site,
revered by authors. Daisy Miller, the heroine of Henry James's eponymous novella, was buried there.
After an audience with Pope Pius IX in 1877, Oscar Wilde visited the Cemetery, proclaiming it "the holiest place in Rome." The Cemetery can be visited daily and the Visitors' Centre is a source of information and publications [Plan Your Visit]. Donations to the cemetery are always welcome through the PayPal link below: |
