Have you ever neglected to visit tourist spots in the area because you live there?  There are at least two places in Milan that I’ve been meaning to visit since moving here 20 years ago.

Today, I visited the Monumental Cemetery to give thanks for being hired as a KWN special correspondent. For 20 years I intended to visit the memorial cemetery in Milan, but had been putting it off, but prompted by the fact that I became a special correspondent reporting on information on Milan, I finally made the visit. On November 1st, the Christian holiday called All Saints’ Day, I joined the Milanese visiting their family gravesites and went to the cemetery.

For the past few days, Milan has been enveloped in thick mist in the morning and evening. This morning the fog was light, so I wouldn’t be faced with the type of scene you see in horror movies where a graveyard visit is made to a gravesite shrouded in mist. Joking aside, why is this memorial cemetery deemed important by tourists and residents? In a nutshell, it’s because it’s a treasure-trove of artworks. It can be called an art museum that links to heaven.

A Gothic-style chapel constructed of white marble stately stands in front of a plaza of white stone pavement. Just gazing this scene, I could feel the difference with other places in Milan, but as I ventured further inside, I was taken into a setting that could make me forget I’m in Milan. It’s a landscape that seems timeless. Yes, it’s a cemetery, but it seems more appropriate to call it a landscape. Amazing sculptures fill the expansive cemetery that is thick with trees. It is overflowing with richly expressive figures that include a bronze replica that recreates The Last Supper and a pillar  that recreates the Way of the Cross. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a myriad of sculptures and was at a loss as to where to begin viewing them. I felt I’d probably get lost as I ventured forward looking at them, becoming entranced by the works of art. I began wondering if it’s possible to feel that you’re lost, but in actuality be in another dimension? Maybe because of my fanciful musings, my hand tightened around the cemetery map I got at the entrance, and I walked around the cemetery while looking repeatedly at the map so I wouldn’t lose my way.

This memorial cemetery is open to all the living, but not everyone who dies. To be buried in this cemetery, you have to pass a stringent review. Those who passed the review and rest in this tranquil place are war dead that fought for the honor of Italy, businesspeople who achieved great success in Italy, distinguished artists, politicians and athletes who contributed to Italy, and people not of the Hebrew or Catholic faith.
Surprisingly, it seems things are not so easy even after death …