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Managed by Azimut S.p.A, Faenza

Entry of the Cemetery of the Observance: hemicycle colonnade, drawn of the architect Costantino Galli (1858 -1860)

Faenza Cemetery  was established in 1816  in the original  15th century Franciscan  monastery of the Osservanza, which  already had  two cloisters. The complex was expanded  through a series of  works: first, in 1828,  the  rebuilding  of the church by the architect Pietro Tomba, who designed it in Neoclassical style, then , between 1858 and 1860, the construction of the   mighty  hemicycle of  red brick  columns which  is still   the  main entrance to the cemetery. This  was  designed   by Costantino Galli, an architect from the Ticino area. As regards its content, the Cemetery  has undoubtedly  the most significant collection of sculptures and applied  arts in Faenza. There are a lot of monumental  19th century tombs: two  highly refined Liberty style ones  dating back to the  early 20th century  and a number of tombs of a later period. Among the latter, one in particular (Melandri,1958) is  covered in stoneware and was realised by Lucio Fontana, an internationally renowned artist. The tomb which deserves special attention is that of Bishop Pasi (1530) Pietro Barilotto’s absolute masterpiece, realized in Istria stone with terracotta inserts, probably by Alfonso Lombardi. Recently the monument has successfully been restored together with the whole chapel where it is housed. The cemetery is  a  collection of  works  realized in different materials: ceramics, bronze, stone, by some of the most prominent artists  of the 20th century: Rambelli, Melandri, Nonni, Gatti, Drei, Biancini, Matteucci.

Points of interest

Tabanelli’s tomb of middle 19th century, entirely realized in plasters by the plastic modeller of Faenza Giovanni Collina-Graziani

One of the little angel in high-relief created by Giovanni Collina and inserted in the arcades of the colonnades of the cemetery (19th century)

Bishop Giacomo IV Pasi's monumental tomb (1530) absolute masterpiece of the sculptor of Faenza Pietro Barilotto (1481-1553), realized in Istria stone, with terracotta inserts probably by Alfonso Lombardi. It comes from the suppressed Church of the Servi

A masterpiece of the sculptor of Faenza Domenico Rambelli (1886-1972), the original tomb realized in 1957 for his friend Joseph Donati, journalist, writer and political man

A simple parallelepiped (Melandri’s tomb) dressed in grès and handmade in 1958 by the international artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) constitutes the most important modern realization

High-relief created for the ceramist of Faenza Pietro Melandri (1885-1976), inserted in the monument devoted to the citizens of Faenza fallen for the liberty during world war two