As Cassandra mentioned in her post on Florence’s Cimitero degli Inglesi, this first cemetery for non-Catholics was closed in 1877 because the population of Florence had grown and what used to have been a cemetery outside town was now too close for comfort. The Cimitero agli Allori was opened in Via Senese near Galluzzo in 1860 as an alternative burial spot for non-Catholics and is still used today.
This rather brow beaten and run down cemetery still has its charm, although it’s really not worth going to see on purpose. Cassandra wandered around it for about an hour and was delighted to find the tombs of the Stibbert family, Herbert Percy Horne and John Pope Hennessy, but mostly she was comforted to feel like she was in the company of people she well may have known. Had she lived in Florence 100 years ago, that is.
Non-Catholics in Florence tend to be Brits and Americans and Cassandra certainly felt like she recognized the community. The names sounded familiar, the birthplaces sounded familiar, the places of death were certainly familiar. Cassandra could imagine their life stories: in Italy for love, in Italy for work, in Italy for love of work…
She could envision their tea parties and almost hear their happy accents as they chirped away in their best Italian.
Dick must have died young because Cassandra hasn’t seen much of him for ages
Scary monsters and the Ivy League
Random VS artistic decay and ruin
Although Cassandra was generally disappointed with the funerary motifs here- ne’er a moth nor an ouroboros-she did appreciate the writer’s grave and wonders if one day her own may not look similar.
Suggested viewing: Franco Zeffirelli, Tea with Mussolini
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