Why go

The Cimitero Monumentale is one of Milan’s most surprising sights. Designed by Carlo Maciachini and opened in 1867, it was conceived as a celebration of the city’s newly prosperous middle class, and for over 150 years Milan’s great industrial, artistic and political families have commissioned tombs from the leading sculptors and architects of the day. The result is an open-air museum spread over about 25 hectares, where Neo-Gothic chapels, Art Nouveau angels and bold modernist monuments stand side by side.

Behind the striped marble facade of the main entrance lies the Famedio, the Hall of Fame, where the writer Alessandro Manzoni is buried and many celebrated Milanese are commemorated. Beyond it, avenues of cypress trees lead past mausoleums that range from miniature temples to an Egyptian pyramid.

What to see

  • The Famedio. The domed Hall of Fame at the entrance, with Manzoni’s tomb and memorials to famous citizens.
  • The central avenues. Grand family chapels and sculpture by artists including Medardo Rosso and Adolfo Wildt.
  • The Campari tomb. A bronze Last Supper commissioned by the drinks family.
  • Modern monuments. Twentieth-century tombs, including the memorial to Milanese deported to Nazi camps.
  • The Jewish and non-Catholic sections. Separate areas reached through their own gates.

Plan your visit

The cemetery opens Tuesday to Sunday from 8am to 6pm, with entry until 30 minutes before closing, and is closed on non-holiday Mondays. On 1 January, Easter Sunday and Monday, 1 May, 2 June, 15 August and 8, 25 and 26 December it opens from 8am to 1pm only. Entry is free and needs no booking.

Free guided tours of about 90 minutes run on set dates and can be booked through the calendar on the cemetery’s website; they meet at the Infopoint in the first portico on the left after the entrance. Maps in Italian are available at the porter’s lodge.

Allow an hour and a half to two hours to see the main monuments. Paths are often gravel, so wear comfortable shoes, and remember that this is still a working cemetery where funerals take place.

Getting there

Monumentale station on Metro line M5 is just outside the main entrance, and several tram lines stop nearby. Porta Garibaldi station is about ten minutes’ walk away.

Tips

Begin at the Famedio, then follow the main axis before exploring the side avenues. Autumn afternoons, with low light on the marble, are especially atmospheric. Dress and behave respectfully. Photography is generally fine for personal use, but avoid photographing funerals or mourners.

If you want to understand who the families were and why their tombs look as they do, join one of the free guided tours. Guides explain the symbolism of the sculpture and the stories of the industrialists, publishers and artists buried here, which brings the history of modern Milan to life.

Nearby

The Porta Nuova district, with Piazza Gae Aulenti, the UniCredit tower and Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale towers covered in trees, is about ten minutes’ walk east. The Isola neighbourhood beyond has small restaurants, bars and street art, and Milan’s Chinatown along Via Paolo Sarpi is a short walk south-west.