The restoration of the Polish Cemetery in Bologna is completed

The Cemetery reminds 1,400 soldiers of the 2nd Polish Corps armed fell in 1944 for the Liberation of Bologna and Europe from fascism.

Eastern Cemetery (Innsbruck, Austria)

Today, Eastern Cemetery covers an area of approximately 67.700 m2.

About the cemetery

The Eastern Cemetery was built according to the plans of Eduard Klingler between 1912 and 1913. 

In November 1915 new burial grounds for fallen soldiers were built beyond the cemetery walls to the south and west, and in 1930 these were integrated into the Eastern Cemetery in Pradl.

In 1985 the cemetery was expanded generously towards the southwest with a new sector (Eastern Cemetery 2). The consecration hall is decorated with Nazarene paintings and a painted coffered ceiling.

The soldiers' chapel, which is located in the south of the cemetery, was built in 1916 according to the plans of Theodor Prachensky.

Some of the other important gravesites are:

• Grave of the lonely - used for the burial of single people or those who want an anonymous grave.
• Children's field - used for the burial of babies and small children.
• The bomb victims' grave - contains the remains of 108 victims of air raids in World War II.
• The anatomy monument - memorial to the persons who donated their bodies to the medical and scientific purposes.

*Photo source: www.wikipedia.org

Cemetery Address

Kaufmannstraße 1 (old part)
Wiesengasse 100 (new part)
Innsbruck
Austria

Cemetery opening hours

November to February: 7.30 - 17.00
March to October: 7.30 - 18.00
April to September: 7.30 - 19:00

Administration Contacts

Kaufmannstraße 1
Innsbruck
Austria

Tel.: 0512/5360-7145

Western Cemetery (Innsbruck, Austria)

A 19th-century cemetery with unique Jewish heritage in Tirol, and notable neo-gothic art and architecture.

About the cemetery

The Western Cemetery was built between 1856 and 1858 according to the plans of Carl Müller, with a southern expansion added in 1889. In the 1920s, the site was significantly developed: the cemetery chapel was rebuilt and enlarged with a chapel of rest (1926–1927), a columbarium was established in 1927, and residential and administrative buildings were constructed.

The cemetery suffered considerable damage during World War II due to air raids, followed by restoration and reconstruction efforts in the 1980s; the columbarium was also expanded in 1959. In the southern section, the Jewish and Evangelical cemeteries are separated by walls, with the Jewish cemetery holding particular significance as the only one in Tirol and the burial place of several notable figures.

The cemetery’s character is shaped by a rich interplay of art, architecture, and sculpture. Highlights include frescoes by Franz Plattner in the neo-Gothic chapel and statues by Franz Santifaller in the consecration hall, while honorary graves are located within the arcades.

Today, the Western Cemetery spans approximately 47.700 square meters.

Cemetery address

Fritz-Pregl-Straße 2
6020 Innsbruck
Austria

Administration Contacts

Tel.: 0512/5360-7142

Cemetery opening hours

November till February: 7.30-17.00
March till October: 7.30-18.00
April till September: 7.30-19:00

New Cemetery Mühlau (Innsbruck, Austria)

The New Mühlau Cemetery, commonly referred to as the Mühlau Cemetery, is the final resting place of Georg Trakl and many other notable poets.

About the cemetery

The construction of a new cemetery in Mühlau was agreed on in 1914/15 and it was built in 1926 according to the plans of architect Willi Stigler. In 1986 a generous expansion towards the north according to the plans of Luis Nothdurfter was carried out.

Several well-known personalities found their final resting place here, such as:

• Georg Trakl,
• Ludwig von Ficker,
• Josef Leitgeb,
• Gerhild Diesner,
• Wilfried Kirschl,
• Heinrich Caesar Berann,
• Hermann Alexander Graf Keyserling,
• and others.

The most famous among them is certainly the poet Georg Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists.

Other characteristic features of the cemetery are its location directly at the edge of a wood, the stunning view of Innsbruck and the unbelievably mountain scenery.

Today, the Mühlau Cemetery covers an area of approximately 10,400 m2.

Cemetery address

at the Mühlenweg

Administration Ccontacts

Fritz-Pregl-Straße 2
Tel.: 0664/154-90-42 or 0512/5360-7142

Cemetery of Skiathos (Skiathos island, Greece)

The Cemetery of Skiathos was established in 1835. It is an outdoor museum that includes unique monuments of the neoclassical period, some of them dedicated to famous Greek personalities.

The History of Skiathos

The name “Skiathos” was given to the island in the pre-Hellenic period. There are two alternatives about the origin of the name. According to the first, the name was given by the Pelasgians, who were the first inhabitants, because they were impressed by the great shadow (skia in Greek) of the many trees they found there. According to the other version, the island took its name after Dionysus, the main god on the island, as his cult name was “Skianthos”.

After its first settlers, Skiathos was inhabited by Cretans and then by Mycenaeans. During the Persian Wars, Skiathos was a great help to the Athenians and its harbor was used as a fleet base. In 478 B.C., the island became a member of the Athenian League. After the Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.), Skiathos gained its autonomy. Despite the efforts of the Spartians to conquer the island, Skiathos managed to stay free.

Under the Macedonian rule and the enforcement of tyranny, the inhabitants of Skiathos suffered very much. In 146 B.C., the Romans took the island and gave many liberties to the Skiathians who lived peacefully until 88 B.C. when the King of Pontus Mithridates the 6th destroyed the island in the war against the Romans. During the Byzantine period, Skiathos was part of the province of Thessaly.

In 1204 A.D. Crusaders conquered Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire fell. All its territories went to the Crusaders except for the Aegean islands which were given to the Venetians. During this period, Skiathos, was ruled by the Ghisi family, with the help of Marco Sanudo (Duke of Naxos). The Venetians, with the acquiescence of the Skiathians, stayed on the island until 1538 when the Ottomans managed to conquer it. 

In 1830s Skiathos became free along with the rest of Greece, the island's capital was moved to the original site, where it still remains. The inhabitants had to leave the town and move at 1335 to Kastro, (the Greek word for castle), a high rock, overlooking a steep cliff above the sea at the northernmost part of the island, where they were safe. During the 19th century Skiathos became an important shipbuilding centre in the Aegean due to the abundance of pine forests on the island.

An act of great importance both for the island and the whole of Greece was the creation and raising of the first official Greek flag in September 1807, at the holy convent of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (monastery of Evagelistria) in Skiathos. In World War II, the island suffered from the Nazis. On 14 September 1943, the Nazis sank a submarine with Skiathian heroes and on 23 August 1944 they burned the island and executed seven young Skiathians.

The Skiathos Cemetery

Skiathos Cemetery spreads on the slope of the hill, with a great sea view. It is an important sightseeing, which you don’t easily find in a Greek island.

The style of the cemetery can be traced to the Romantic period. As all the Greek Cemeteries of that period it has it’s entrance at the east side and a main path, which separates it in two parts, the south and the north. At this times Skiathos was a class sociaty and that was reflected at the Cemetery, where the north part was for the upper class and the south part was for the middle-lower class.

Major Greek figures are buried in the Cemetery - heroes of the Greek Revolution and world famous writers as Alexandros Papadiamantis.

The collection of sculptures in the cemetery represents a significant example of the Neoclassicism, a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical period (stelae). Some samples can be found of Egyptian patterns, such as obelisks.

Basic data

• a Greek Orthodox cemetery
• area of 550m2
• deceased are mostly Greek nationality
• characterized as an Historical Site, by the Ministry of Culture

Ownership

Municipality of Skiathos

Managing organization

Culture association Skiathos

Contact

Thodoris Tzoumas
Skiathos island, 37002,
Greece

Tel.: 00306 938 246 755
Email: theotzoumas@yahoo.gr

English Cemetery (Linares, Spain)

English Cemetery, also known as the Protestant cemetery, covers an area of only 1.497m2, but contains as many as 65 graves of historical character.

"I can give an example of tolerance. I hardly expected in this part of Spain to find a Protestant cemetery near the General Cemetery of the place". Diary of Thomas Sopwith, 1864.

With this statement, Thomas Sopwith, first vice-consul of Linares, referred to the English cemetery of the town. To understand the reason for its construction, we have to start from two historical facts:

• Influx of immigrants from Northern Europe, especially Britain. The liberalization of mining and other sectors such as railways since 1849 is conducive to the immigration of entrepreneurs and experts. They came to try their luck in the extractive sector; investing heavily and applying technology. This was followed, of course, in the demographic growth of a population and consequently increase of funeral needs.

• Religious intolerance. The Elizabethan purely religious law did not allow individuals from other branches, that was not Catholicism, to spend the same funeral privileges as the Catholic population. In practice that meant, that they could not be buried at the "municipal" city cemetery of Saint Joseph but were usually buried in the "corralillo".

The "corralillo"

The “corralillo” was a separate space and it has an individual entrance inside the cemetery of Saint Joseph. There were buried in deplorable conditions undesirable’s people for the regime: besides to local Protestants, suicidal and people execute by firearm.

Establishment of the cemetery

Given the above mentioned situation, family and colleague of a young British man, Remfry Santiago, who died in 1855, decided to locate its grave close to the south wall of the cemetery built in this same year.

Later, it was proceeded to surround the space that bounded this burial to avoid possible damage and desecration. Finally, Tonkin and Kendall (influential personalities linked to Linares Mining Company, created by UK agency Taylor & Taylor, a pioneer in the development of the mines of Linares) managed the necessary steps to take control of the land and, thus, define the limits within which will be the English Cemetery, since the mid-sixties of the nineteenth century to nowadays.

Cosmopolitanism of the English cemetery

The tolerance is felt in the legal corpus of the Revolutionary “Sexenio” beside the consolidation of economic liberalism advocated by the Bourbon Restoration. In result, foreign immigration didn't stop until the first third of the twentieth century. This leads to a range of consequences.

• From the ideological point of view: The Masonic Lodges and gatherings become spaces where local and British debate on various topics, including politics.

• Respect to the economy: Many British immigrants of both sexes figure were put on the lists of taxpayers, allowing them the privilege of voting in order to maintain their status quo.

• Special interest in education, culture and religious proselytizing: Children of miners received free classes by protestant immigrants. This meant that both, parents and their children, embraced the faith of their employers.

The English Cemetery reflects a cosmopolitanism that characterizes the city of Linares, and this will be cut off as we move into the Spanish civil war and the consequent establishment of the Franco regime in Spain.

Spanish civil war

Both events, Spanish civil war and the establishment of the Franco regime, along with the decline of mining since the thirties of the twentieth century, contributed ti the decline in foreign immigration.

Furthermore, falangist and local ultra-catholic of the regime of Franco wanted to destroy the last vestiges of Protestants in Linares, as well as any persona non grata for Franco, making them victims of persecution and harassment of all types.

Friendship between Franco and Churchill

The friendship between Franco and Churchill, resulted in the following consequences:

• On one hand, the British Prime Minister tertiary to the international community in exchange for the dictator.

• On the other hand, and at the local level, the "openness" by the City Hall would result in not destroying the cemetery, but also ensure its preservation.

The desire of bind together the the local Protestant community to those who brought a new way of seeing Christianity, caused that local Protestants sponsored the legislation and resorted to the last descendant of Hasselden, Enrique Montes Hasselden, so that he could transferred them ownership. Thus, since 1968, they could make use of the space that once was primarily built by the British for their eternal rest.

Reflection of the past

The tombstones in this cemetery show something more than a chronological succession of burials. We can unravel the British idiosyncrasies along 102 years (1855-1957):

• Cultural and religious influence of the British community on the rest of the foreign population, as we also find German, French and Swiss.

• Bilingual tombstones, in English and Spanish. This reflects a clear intention of bearing witness to their faith and their pass through Linares to the greatest number of people.

• Obelisks and St. Andrew's crosses reflect the importance of Freemasonry in Linares.

• Botanical architectural elements (palms) and architecture of oriental inspiration. Those were indicators of colonialism practiced by the British Empire during the Second Industrial Revolution.

At the present time, it is a space owned by the Assemblies of Brethren of Linares, only and exclusively. Like formerly, the use of English cemetery it’s related to the field of private property.

Important graves and monuments

• Bilingual tomb with a shaped Celtic cross (1904): It was raised by the mine engineer Reginal Boham Carter (Don Regino). It is speculated that it could be the ancestor of the American actress (but of British descent), Helena Bonham Carter.
• Masonic Graves at the English Cemetery (Late nineteenth century): Tomb with obelisk-shaped that belongs to two British-Masonic men.
• Entrance of the English Cemetery (1860-1864): Door with slope-shaped, similar to the Egyptians and Oriental temples of antiquity. Something that was logical in the British colonialism.

Cemetery Contacts

English Cemetery
Brethren. Evangelical Community.
C/ Cambroneras, 27 - 23700 Linares (Jaén)

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José María de Rus (administrator)
Phone: (+34) 697 95 05 60
Email: josemariaderus@gmail.com

Miguel Palomares (administrator)
Phone: (+34) 639 90 94 57
Email: josemiguelpalomares@yahoo.es

City Hall of Linares Contacts

Yaiza López Sánchez (Responsible of Tourism Area of the City Hall)

El Pósito de Linares.
Museo Raphael y Centro de Interpretación de la Ciudad.
Iglesia, 5 - 23700 Linares (Jaén)

Phone: +34 953 10 01 83 or +34 607 25 75 52
Email: turismo@aytolinares.es or ylopez@aytolinares.es

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Juan Parrilla Sánchez (Technical of Heritage Area of the City Hall)

Centro de Interpretación del Paisaje Minero. Antiguo Muelle de Carga de la Estación de Madrid.
Paseo de Linarejos, s/n. 23700 Linares (Jaén)

Phone: +34 953 60 78 12 or 607 28 83 34
Email: turismo@aytolinares.es or jparrilla@aytolinares.es

Municipal Cemetery of Saint Joseph (Linares, Spain)

The Municipal Cemetery of Saint Joseph was established in 1876. It is located opposite the English Cemetery in the city of Linares (Jaén, Spain).

The good impression that the Provincial Architect made with the design of the English cemetery was sufficient to assign him the task of designing the new cemetery in 1876, although the works were later finished in 1904 by D. Francisco de Paula Gomez Casado, the Municipal Architect. 

Similarities with the English Cemetery

The fact that the English cemetery was the inspiration for the new cemetery resulted in quite a few similarities between them:

• The bracket that exposes the following quote extracted from the Bible: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Even now says the spirit to rest in their work. Apocal.cap.XIV.vers.XIII. YEAR 1892". It’s unusual to find this type of funerary inscription in Catholic cemeteries. Maybe Jorge Porrúa took the idea of the biblical passages that adorn the tombstones belonging to the English Cemetery.

• Both cemeteries, maintain a common set of elements:
• Main Street, starting from the front door leading into a non-funerary structure.
• Same number of side streets that along with the main street delimit the central space of the cemetery.
• Central space, whose function differs depending on the cemetery in question: decorative in San Jose and religious in the English one.

Design and concept

The concept of the cemetery was based on a series of calculations in relation to the 40.000 inhabitants of the city, which gave a mortality rate of 3% (about 1.200 deaths per year).

The design concept consist of:

• Top Mausoleums and family graves, also called “Gallery of Illustrious Men graves”. They are located in the central area which welcomes members of local renowned families such as Bautista Bosistow, related to the English Cemetery, Roselly and Castroverde Piñar.

• Around there are large burial crypts, tombs and niches for the poorer classes. On the contrary to the English Cemetery (where the ornamentation is almost nonexistent), in the Cemetery of Sanint Joseph the difference between powerful and lower social strata is more than evident in the ornamentation of the tombs.

• Several courtyards that line the central area: San Luis, San Miguel, San Juan, San Diego, the “Corralillo” and tha yard graves. On these spaces, ostentatious tombs and crypts are also located.

• Also the project includes landscaped areas where today we can see the native plant species like cypress (tree sacred to Hades, god of the pagan underworld), and a palm trees on marginal sites, planted by the British to "emulate" the exotic botany of their homes. This is the case of the tomb of the British Catholic Guillermo English, whose name is linked with the workforce and Remfry Hasselden family, buried in the English Cemetery.

• Chapel in the background, on whose shrine is located one of our greatest paintings of Romanticism, the “Ezequiel View”, work of the painter Manuel Arroyo y Lorenzo. It relates the biblical passage in which God puts the prophet in the Valley of Bones, and tells him that blows them life. Skeletons recover their human form and life covering them of muscles, organs, tendons... It’s very unusual to find this kind of works of the Old Testament in a Catholic chapel.

The “Courtyard of San Diego”

The “Courtyard of San Diego” enjoys protection at regional level, with the category of "Place of Historical Memory" by the Agreement of 27 December 2013, the Governing Council (BOJA nº 26 of 7 February 2014). Inside of the courtyard, there is a monument to the fallens Republicans during the Spanish Civil War and the reprisals in the dictatorship of Franco. It was built on a mass grave, where their human remains rest.

Important graves and monuments

• Chapel of the Cemetery of Saint Joshep (1892): It contains an oil painting depicting the Biblical passage known as “Vision of Ezekiel” in the valley of the bones. It was made by a painter from Murcia, Manuel Arroyo and Lorenzo.
• Masonic Grave in the Cemetery of Saint Joseph (1942): Tomb with a cross of Saint Andrew, belonging to D. Enrique Naranjo de La Garza, head engineer of the Miner District of Linares-La Carolina since 1886.

Cemetery Contacts

Municipal Cemetery of Saint Joseph
C/ Juan Diego de Dios Barrero (Carretera de Torreblascopedro s/n)
23700 Linares (Jaén)
Spain

José M. Rodríguez (Director)
Phone: + 34 953 60 20 24
Email: jmrodriguez@cpandalucia.es

City Hall of Linares Contacts

Yaiza López Sánchez
(Responsible of Tourism Area of the City Hall)

El Pósito de Linares. Museo Raphael y Centro de Interpretación de la Ciudad.
Iglesia, 5 - 23700 Linares (Jaén)

Phone: +34 953 10 01 83 or +34 607 25 75 52
Email: turismo@aytolinares.es or ylopez@aytolinares.es

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Juan Parrilla Sánchez
(Technical of Heritage Area of the City Hall)

Centro de Interpretación del Paisaje Minero. Antiguo Muelle de Carga de la Estación de Madrid.
Paseo de Linarejos, s/n. 23700 Linares (Jaén)

Phone: +34 953 60 78 12 or +34 607 28 83 34
Email: turismo@aytolinares.es or jparrilla@aytolinares.es

Opening hours

Summer: 9.00 - 14.00 and 17.00 - 19.00
Winter: 9.00 - 14.00 and 16.00-18.00