Forgotten cemetery in Liguria

Since the Napoleonic Edict of Saint-Cloud of 1804, cemeteries have been laid out outside built-up areas; Italy adopted the rule in the following years, in Brescia around 1806. Older burial grounds were often abandoned once the municipality opened a new cemetery.

Graves in Italy are usually granted on time-limited concessions. When the term runs out and no relatives come forward, the municipality may clear the plots. Cities such as Florence report that only a share of expired concessions are renewed. In Terni an ordinance noted that heirs could no longer be traced and the tombs were decaying. Where nothing is done, the grounds are left to themselves.

That is how places arise where names, inscriptions and borders slowly weather away. The gallery records these traces. Because such sites are fragile, this page gives no place name, address or coordinates, only the region of Liguria. If you visit similar places, treat them as resting places: take nothing, do not climb on monuments and leave no litter.