An Outdoor Walk Through History - Staglieno Cemetery, Genova, Italy

After Milan we headed south to Genova to visit one of my favorite places to walk. A cemetery! I love to walk in old cemeteries and I can't image a better cemetery than Staglieno. An outdoor art gallery filled with ornate tombs and sculptures by some of Europe's finest marble carvers including Giulio Monteverde and Leonardo Bistolfi.

Covering more than a square mile the cemetery provides ample space to stroll. There's no map available at the cemetery so if you visit be sure to download one from the website Staglieno Cimitero Monumentale. We were there about 3 hours and didn't even come close to seeing the whole place!

We started our walk by hiking up the grand staircase of the domed Pantheon. (modeled after the Pantheon in Rome)

If you don't go anywhere else be sure to visit inside this building. It's filled with beautiful sculptures and creepy hallways and stair cases!

I find old cemeteries to be peaceful and lovely but I'll have to admit there were areas of this one that gave me the willies...Dark and dank with an ominous feel. 

Thankfully it was also filled with beautifully craved statutes and grave markers...

 This is my favorite grave marker ever...an angel knocking on the lid of a crypt and pointing up. Like she's saying "come on it's time to go"! At least she's pointing up!

The cemetery goes up the hillside. Be prepared to walk a lot of stairs if you want to visit the oldest parts. 

Can you see Josh way at the top of this staircase?

 (This little UP sign is a joke from our trip to Germany and Austria. Every time a local would tell us about an interesting place to go it would involve a 15 minute walk UP! We found this little card at a tourist info rack and thought it was perfect. Now we carry it on most trips because when you live in the flattest state everywhere we go seems to be up)

The views of Genova are spectacular from the hillside of the cemetery.

The many mausoleums look like a magical city on the hill.

Staglieno Cemetery in Genova is a wonderful outdoor walk through history and we only saw a tiny portion on our visit. This cemetery is on my list of places to revisit one day.