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Monumental Cemetery of the Certosa di Bologna| Main Entrance
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Monumental Cemetery of the Certosa di Bologna| Main Entrance
Overview
In 1801, at the Bologna monastery of the Certosa di San Girolamo di Casara, built in 1334 thanks to a legacy from Giovanni D'Andrea, the Cemetery, one of the most important monumental complexes in Europe, was established. In 1359, the church was consecrated and embellished by Carthusian monks, who had the building decorated with precious artwork such as the Vivarini polyptych dedicated to the Blessed Nicolò Albergati, as well as canvases by Guercino, Ludovico and Agostino Carracci. Among the large pieces that are still in their original location in the Certosa today are those by Bartolomeo Cesi, Giovanni Andrea, Elisabetta Sirani, Lorenzo Pasinelli, Domenico Maria Canuti, Giovanni Maria Galli Bibiena and Nunzio Rossi. Another valuable piece of artwork is the inlaid chorus by Biagio de' Marchi (1538). In the first decade of the 17th century, Tommaso Martelli designed the main bell tower and in 1768 Gian Giacomo Dotti designed the monumental entrance to the monastery. A very important Etruscan necropolis, identified by Antonio Zannoni, was also found in 1869, from which the materials now housed in the Etruscan section of the Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna originate. For the first phase of the renovation of the monastery premises used as a cemetery, in keeping with the concepts of Enlightenment sanitation, the plans of architect Angelo Venturoli and the design of Luigi Marchesini were used. Ercole Gasparini, meanwhile, designed the monumental entrance in 1802, from which a straight pathway leads to the Chapel of Suffrage (1811). Some of the most scenic places in the Certosa include the Loggia delle Tombe (1833) re-designed by Coriolano Monti, the Aula Gemina with Salvino Salvini's monument dedicated to the agronomist Giovanni Francesco Contri (1873), and the numerous tombs commissioned from the greatest sculptors of the time, with frescoes by great painters such as Pietro Fancelli, Flaminio Minozzi, Filippo Pedrini, Antonio Basoli and Pelagio Palagi. Among the most famous burials are those of Carlo Broschi known as Farinelli, Isabella Colbran, Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli, Giuseppe Grabinski, Giosuè Carducci, Marco Minghetti, Enrico Panzacchi, Riccardo Bacchelli, Ottorino Respighi, Giorgio Moranti, Giovanni Cappellini and many others. In 2008, the Waiting Room was refurbished by Flavio Favelli, who decided not to alter the existing space but to redesign it with wooden panels, curtains that reveal the columns, a large mirror, 25 crystal chandeliers and a central wooden stage to accommodate the casket. The Certosa Cemetery also contains spaces for non-Catholics (1822), the Jewish cemetery (1869), a crematorium and cemetery (1888), as well as a monument to the Fallen of the First World War (19th century).
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