Cimitero Staglieno: Monument Calcagno

Dear readers,

this post is a bit on the educational side since i'd like to show you one of the more famous tombs at the Staglieno Cemetery in Genoa. Calgacagno's Monument was made by the famous Adolfo Apolloni and it is a very fine piece of art. I happen to own a book that was printed around 1910 and i'd like to share with you what it says about it:

"This most valued bronze masterpiece by the sculptor Apollonio, dedicated to the Calcagno family is to be seen at the Pontasso above the monumental Arcades. The statue lying on the steps, deposing a last flower on the grave, is the personification of Sorrow."

(I left the mistakes in the text since it is a quote... However it's not bad english compared to the german translations in the book. They are plain hilarious.....)

Interestingly the artist was the major of Rome (from June 1919 to November 1920). But before that he lived in the U.S. and he did a famous grave there, too.

The Bones Chapel in Faro, Portugal

This post is again not about a cemetery. It is about a church in Faro, Portugal, or, to be more precise it's about the bone chapel i've visited there about 4 years ago.

The chapel wallls are covered with the bones and skulls of thousands. And it is a bit unclear where they took them from. Someone told me  that they are victims of the black plague and they couldn't find a decent place to bury them. Sadly though, i wasn't able to confirm this and so -at least for me- it remains a mystery.

Still, it's a creepy location but thanks to the authorities there you can't get there unnoticed anymore so the looting of bones has stopped. There was a time when it was unguarded and some sickos really had nothing better to do as to vandalize it and to nick the bones they could get hold of.

Here are the pictures:

The Church from outside.

One of the walls. The Chapel can be reached thrugh the church itself. It's outside in a courtyard.

Detail

The skulls are slowly disentegrating... makes them even more sinister..

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