When you walk to the entrance of the Cimitero Monumentale or Monumental Cemetery, you are bound to be impressed by the entrance and the enormous building. Vaguely reminding the visitor of churches elsewhere in Italy for the colours and used, the building itself is impressive enough. But once inside, you realize this is only the beginning. The Monumental Cemetery is, in fact, an enormous area, some 250 000 square metres of tombs in all kinds and sizes.

At the entrance, you can see corridors of tombs, and, in contrast, you can enter the marble and stone Famedio, Temple of Fame, the central hall of the main building, where famous citizens are resting. Some of them include Giuseppe Verdi and Horowitz, but you can find a long list of poets, sculptors, Formula One champions, opera singers and journalists, among others. You can also find some great sculptures here. You can exit on the other side, and enter the cemetery proper. This is a vast area, and it is advisable to obtain a map at the entrance.

You can easily spend hours exploring the outside cemetery, even though you might not be looking for a particular tomb. Not one tomb seems to be the same, and many have extraordinary beautiful pieces of sculpture to embellish them. After walking around for a while, taking in the peaceful atmosphere of this cemetery and enjoying the tender sculptures at some tombs, I realized that this was not so much a sad place, but rather one of peace and, above all, love. It must be comforting to know that one is engraved here, to be resting in peace.