Monumental cemetery of Brescia

The lighthouse was built between 1869 and 1870

The monumental Cemetery of Brescia was the first construction project by Rodolfo Vantini, who started its erection in 1813 and dedicated his whole life to its creation.[2] The Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud enacted on 12th June 1804 established some rules related to the public healthcare, imposing a certain distance between the place designated for burials and residential areas.

In 1806, Brescia was one of the first cities to promulgate a law based on the edict and the city deputation decided to establish a graveyard following the new guidelines. The designated area was chosen to be out of Porta San Giovanni, while on 12th September 1808 the Comune of Brescia acquired new lands for this purpose. On 19th January 1810, the bishop Gabrio Maria Nava consecrated the place and immediately after the cemetery started to be used. In 1814, after many debates about the facility enhancement, the architect Rodolfo Vantini was nominated to build a funerary chapel.[3]

During the following years, neoclassical arcades and buildings inspired by Hellenistic architecture were added to this area thanks to Vantini even though the whole construction took several years and was only completed at the beginning of the XX century, after Vantini’s death.[4]

The main sections which compose the Cemetery are:

• The central chapel dedicated to Saint Michael, whose statue was sculpted by Democrito Gandolfi.[5]

• The Municipality chapel or Rotondina Comunale, the very first pantheon of the cemetery. From 1833 to 1904, twenty-five politicians and eminent personas from Brescia were buried in this chapel.[6]

• The green hemicycle opposite to the Saint Michael chapel, composed by sixty-six memorial cenotaphs which tribute renowned Brescian personas: poets, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and soldiers.[7]

• The lighthouse, which was finished in 1870, it's sixty metres high and has a circular basement surrounded by porticos and tombs, moreover, a lantern has been positioned on the top. The Berlin Victory Column by the German architect Johann Heinrich Strack was inspired by Vantini's lighthouse.[8] Furthermore, the tomb and the statue of Rodolfo Vantini by Giovanni Seleroni have been positioned inside the monument central hall.[9]

• The military ossuary, one of the biggest military funerary monument in Italy. It was constructed during the 1920s in order to commemorate the World War I fallen.[10]

• The Pantheon (or Famedio in Italian), a hall dedicated to the most eminent people from Brescia and to those who lived there.[11]

• The pyramidal shaped tomb of Giovanni Battista Bossini.[12]
• A section dedicated to Islamic people.[13]

• Tito Speri (1825-1853) patriot and hero of the Risorgimento.
• Rodolfo Vantini (1792-1856) architect
• Giuseppe Zanardelli (1826-1903) jurist and politician
• Cesare Arici (1782-1836) poet
• Giovanni Battista Bossini (1734-1810) priest and consecreted
• Annibale Calini (1882-1916) count and podestà
• Ugo da Como (1869-1941) politician
• Gaudenzio de Pagave (1776-1833) royal representative
• Luigi Maggi (1802-1855) podestà

• 
  Cimaschi Mausoleum.
• 
  Comini Seccamani Mausoleum

• 
  Cristo Redentore by Domenico Ghidoni.
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  Cenotafio Zanardelli by Ettore Ximenes.
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  Bust of Antonio Tagliaferri by Domenico Ghidoni.
• 
  Bust of Christ with crown of thorns
• 
  Donne piangenti by Emilio Quadrelli.
• 
  Monumento funebre della famiglia Cuni by Luigi Contratti.
• 
  Monumento funebre della famiglia Martinengo Cesaresco by Democrito Gandolfi.

• 
  Famiglia Soncini by Domenico Ghidoni.
• 
  Annible Calini monument by Abbondio Sangiorgio.
• 
  Famiglia Facchi by Angelo Boninsegna.
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  Cesare Arici monument by Francesco Somaini.
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  Giovan Battista Gigola monument by Giovanni Battista Lombardi.
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  Tomba Pitozzi Baggi by Giovanni Battista Lombardi.
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  Famiglia Panciera di Zoppola by Giovanni Battista Lombardi.
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  Famiglia Dossi Rampinelli Spalenza by Giovanni Battista Lombardi.
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  Famiglia Massimini by Giannino Castiglioni.
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  Famiglia Vigliani by Francesco Gusmeri.
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  Famiglia Monti della Corte by Giovanni Antonio Labus.
• 
  Famiglia Mazzucchelli by Giovanni Battista Lombardi.
• 
  Famiglia Maffei Erizzo by Abbondio Sangiorgio.

• 
  Pietà
• 
  The Monument to the Fallen
• 
  Saint Michael Church
• 
  Tito Speri tomb
• 
  Don Bossini tomb
• 
  The eastern view
• 
  General view of the Cemetery
• 
  Cenotafio di Giuseppe Zanardelli
• 
  Prodi Bresciani monument

• List of cemeteries
• Rodolfo Vantini
• Berlin Victory Column
• Monumental Cemetery of Milan