Cimitero della Misericordia
I have always loved old cemeteries. The walls hold stories more plentiful than any library – true stories of happiness and sadness, comedy and tragedy, lives fulfilled and lives cut short, and for some, a hope to reunite in the future.
“God, as you united us on earth, unite us in heaven. So be it.”
The Cortona cemetery is one of those old places that is filled with love, passion, respect and hope. Faces adorn the graves, not only names and dates. Fresh flowers and candles are plentiful, and the quiet peacefulness is broken only by the birds that fly overhead.
The cemetery is situated halfway up the hill to Cortona, providing incredible views of both the city above and the valley below. Once through the main entrance, the cemetery spreads in every direction. Some of the markers are simple, while others display drama, passion and art as only the Italians can do. Who ever thought of a cemetery as a museum?
Jugs and water spouts are plentiful for maintaining plants, and there are no rules governing the display of flowers, candles or mementoes! Hey, sibs, maybe here?
Riposi in pace! (Rest in peace!)
Ciao,
Judy
Blogging In Italy 
That statue over the coffin is just breathtaking and sad. I was surprised when I went to the cemetery in my father’s town that women do not change their name legally when they wed. My grandmother had her maiden name on her grave. There legal name nevery changes. Interested fact.
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Perhaps that’s why I never really changed my name. So many of the women I know in Chicago use their maiden names also. After all, that’s who we really are! I finally put both on my passport and license because it got confusing. I agree with you on the statue…truly breathtaking!
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Ciao Judy, Wow, look at all those above-ground graves, narrow passageways look just like old living towns, interesting how the outside crypts form a protective wall around the below-ground graves. Flowers everywhere, and I’m astounded at all the jugs and water spouts available, not like here at all. Awesome, amazing, so striking, that grieving statue flung over the grave.
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Ciao Judy, don’t see new pics yet, but will check back. Mom said that generally the Italian custom is to bury babies and children below ground, and put adults in the above-ground crypts. She’s from Le Marche. I don’t know if that custom is regional or pervasive across the country. I wonder if you noticed any dates on the stone markers that would support that custom in Cortona.
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Ciao Judy, Oh, I see the new pictures now, OMG!! Amazing, exquisite, not just a block of stone marker, but a whole statue, I’ve not seen anything like that, pictures everywhere, and I think I see a picture of an older lady on a slab marking a ground burial, very interesting.
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I didn’t really notice an age difference between below and above ground. Seems to be wherever the family bought plots that drives the location. The statuary is truly beautiful and the pictures allow you to focus more on life than death as you walk around. So very loving and touching.
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