Abolished Network of Cemeteries / 1785-1787 (Transferred Between 1883 and 1896) Abolished Network of Cemeteries / 1785-1787 (Transferred Between 1883 and 1896)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
FONDAZIONE DELL’ORDINE DEGLI ARCHITETTI, PIANIFICATORI, PAESAGGISTI E CONSERVATORI DELLA PROVINCIA DI MILANO Bz. 249/itinerari Abolished network of cemeteries / 1785-1787 (transferred between 1883 and 1896) Abolished network of cemeteries / 1785-1787 (transferred between 1883 and 1896) Porta Venezia, Porta Ticinese, Porta Garibaldi, Porta Magenta, Porta Vittoria, Milano religious institutions by entrusting the either one- or one-and-a-half-bricks thick; municipality with the task of build places an open, central area for burials; a single In 1776, when Pietro Verri began writing restore the custom of burying the dead in specially designed to accommodate the cross, made of wood or iron, marked the the history of Milan and the people of the areas removed from the churches and far dead, irregardless of wealth, beyond the spot for celebrating the burial rites. city fi nally witnessed the opening of the from inhabited areas; to build, where none city limits. To meet these regulations, a With the construction of the Monumental Brera Art Academy, the city’s governing yet exist, cemetery sites, in the form and number of projects were presented in 1779 cemetery and the Cemetery in Musocco authorities became concerned about the manner specifi ed in art. 8 of the circular of by the architects Giuseppe Piermarini and a few years later, all of these minor problem of population growth and the December 31, 1774; to close existing private Giovanni Antonio Bettoli for the creation cemeteries, which by then had been consequent need for new burial sites within family tombs in churches and oratories as of new cemeteries. In 1785, land suitable squeezed by urban expansion and the city limits. Faced with this contingency, well as those existing in outlying churches to accommodate these new facilities was were considered insuffi cient to contain the governor Archduke Ferdinand of of the nuns.” This edict, which in a certain allocated but it wasn’t until 1787 that Milan subsequent burials, were fi nally abolished Austria and Minister Carlo Giuseppe di sense seemed to be a timid forerunner of would actually be in a position to physically between 1890 and 1896, guaranteeing Firmian tried to restore regulatory order the Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud, fi nally provide new cemeteries, allowing the tombs that the remains would be transferred in burial procedures through an imperial forbade the practice of burials in the heart located in churches, porticoes and in their the two new, large, urban cemeteries. edict, commanding “the Registrars to of the consolidated city, in churches and vicinity to be emptied and permanently Thus Milan returned to refl ecting on the closed. theme of cemeteries. No longer were they LOCATIONS OF THE TRANSFERRED AFFILIATED CEMETERIES PLAN OF THE PORTA VENEZIA CEMETERY Five small cemeteries were located considered simply from a functional point (IMAGE FROM THE BRAIDENSE NATIONAL LIBRARY) (IMAGE FROM THE BRAIDENSE NATIONAL LIBRARY) outside of the Spanish walls near the of view but also for their deeper meaning, historical gates to the city in facilities expressing a clear desire to address their attached to existing churches that had representational nature. already been used to accommodate the MASSIMO FERRARI sick during the plague. In a setting that was still rural, the cemeteries were defi ned PLAN OF THE PORTA VITTORIA CEMETERY solely by a walled enclosure, devoid of any (IMAGE FROM THE BRAIDENSE NATIONAL LIBRARY) representational intention. Each of the fi ve enclosures was different from the others in terms of geometry and size but they were all united by their very modest character, related only to their functional needs and simplicity of construction. The defi nition of these places was entrusted to a few simple signs, which were repeated: an entrance marked by two buildings or simply by a wooden gate in the brick wall—usually CEMETERIES IN MILAN CEMETERIES IN MILAN.