"THE SOURCE OF MEMORY" Monumental cemetery of Turin -Italy

In Turin the CEREMONY TO COLLECT THE SOURCE OF MEMORY

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is working on the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It will be erected in the city of Kubinka, Moscow region, in the Patriot Park.
The organizers of this project plan to place in it small cisterns containing land collected from cemeteries where the burial places of the Soviet soldiers who died during the Second World War are located.
In this regard, the Russian Consulate and the Russian Embassy in Italy have organized for the day of December 2, 2019 a collection ceremony of about 50 grams of land where several Soviet soldiers were buried at the Monumental Cemetery of Turin. The ceremony was attended by a representative of the Russian Embassy in Italy, a representative of the Consul General of Russia in Milan, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, two Orthodox priests, and representatives of the ANPI Association of Turin.
The ceremony is remembered here PHOTOS

A guide-book for the Monumentale of Milan

This guide-book is addressed to all people who want to discover the hidden treasures of this open-air museum, one of the most important in Europe. A good number of photographs complement the description of the monuments and historical, artistical and cultural notions. Accurate maps and indexes help identify the position of tomb and memorials easily. Authors: Carla De Bernardi   and Lalla Fumagalli, respectively president and vice-president of the Amici del Monumentale, a non-profit association entirely consisting of volunteers to assist the municipality and Milanese institutions in the protection, preservation and promotion of this open-air museum. The guide-book can be obtained at:  

https://www.youcanprint.it/riferimento-guide-e-manuali/the-monumental-cemetery-of-milan-an-open-air-museum-9788827865088.html  or
https://www.amazon.it/open-air-museum-Monumental-Cemetery-English-

Two Weeks of Open History Classes - at the New Cemetery in Belgrade (Serbia)

XX Latin-American Meeting on Promotion and Management of Heritage Cemeteries

The twentieth Latin-American Meeting is currently taking place from 11 throughout 16 November in Malaga and is attended by over 120 delegates from Latin America and Europe. Besides the Latin-American and Spanish Cemeteries Network, the meeting was organized by the University and Municipality of Malaga with the support of several partners. The leit-motiv was Heritage Cemeteries as cultural, touristic and educational resources. Besides the many conferences on the subject, guided visits have been organized at the San Miguel Cemetery and English Cemetery in Malaga, as well as to the War Memorial of the Spanish Civil War and archeological site of Antequera. The Friends of the Monumentale of Milan attended with a paper that illustrated the peculiarities of the most significant Milanese cemetery and their activities in preserving, promoting and enhancing this magnificent open-air museum. The meeting is looking forward to a future cooperation between the Latin-American and Spanish Network and ASCE.

WWI Armistice Ceremonies at the New Cemetery of Belgrade (Serbia)

“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.” (Kohima Epitaph)

Due to the fact that the New Cemetery in Belgrade is one of the rare, urban civilian cemeteries comprising several WWI Military Cemeteries, each November is marked with the series of commemorations devoted to all victims of the Great War.

On the occasion of the Italian Armed Forces Day and WWI Armistice Ceremonies, on November 4, 2019, the commemoration was held at the Italian Military Cemetery within the New Cemetery of Belgrade, for the purpose of remembering Italian soldiers killed in the Great War, as well as all the casualties of the Great War, other armed conflicts and peace-keeping missions.

 

Another   commemoration devoted to the victims of the Great War was held on November 5, 2019, at the Austro-Hungarian Military Cemetery. The ceremony of laying wreaths and paying respects was attended by high ranking state and church officials from Austria, Hungary and Serbia, representatives of the embassies and defense attaché offices accredited in Belgrade. 

 

This series of commemorations was finalized by the Central State Ceremony, at the very day of the WWI Armistice, November 11, 2019 at 10:00 hrs. The Central Ceremony commenced at the French Military Cemetery, followed by the main event in front of the WWI Memorial Ossuary of Belgrade Defenders. The ceremony continued by laying wreaths at the WWI Russian Ossuary, whereas the finale was marked by commemoration at the Commonwealth War Cemetery.

The Remembrance Day is commemorated each year on November 11, as a token of remembrance of the WWI armistice signed in the railway wagon in Compiegne (France) and the hostilities formally ended on November 11, 1918 - "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" In accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, each country was obligated to maintain the war cemeteries on their territories, disregarding the religion or nationality. Based on the decision of the SHS Kingdom from 1919, the Municipality of Belgrade secured the areas for French, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian military cemeteries. The cemeteries were constructed by their respective countries in the period between 1928 and 1934. From their establishing until this day, the foreign military cemeteries are treated as separate, ex-territorial units, within the New Cemetery of Belgrade.

WWI Floral Remembrance Symbols

Impressive memorial evening at Westerveld

Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium organised a memorial evening on Friday, 1 November. Many people braved the autumn weather to visit the atmospherically illuminated memorial park, coming together to light candles and remember loved ones.

European Cemeteries Tour 2020: SignUp

Only 20 seats left and 2 months for signup.

Cemeteries are increasingly opening up as new spaces for tourist visits and cultural manifestations. In this context it is very important to emphasise them as part of cultural tourism. In order to promote it, European Cemeteries Route began with the project European Cemeteries Tour in 2018.

KD Kozala Rijeka, together with its partners from Zagreb and Zadar, is the first organiser of the project European Cemeteries Tour 2020, during which stories from Croatia will be presented.

Only 20 seats left

Interest for the tour is amazing, as the tour program is promising really splendid cultural adventure. Beyond cemeteries, tour will include many cultural events, including European Capital of Culture 2020 in Rijeka.

SignUp now

SignUp is available at this link in the European Cemeteries Tour website with 2 packages available. Make sure to sign up on time as the tour has limited number of seats available (only 20 left at the moment).

AGM 2019 report

On October 3rd, the Annual General Meeting took place at Provinciaal Administratief Centrum 'Het Zuid' in Ghent.

Over 150 participants from 19 countries joined a splendidly organised meeting and conference. Thoughtful presentations and sparking debates revealed the possibilities and issues in shared use and reuse of cemeteries.

AGM was preceeded by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek, president of ASCE and all steering committee members were present or gave proxy to other members. During the AGM several things were outlined and discussed:

1. Elections of new steering committee and presidency took place. Among candidates, members voted for following:

• Lidija Pliberšek, Maribor, Slovenia (president)
• Renate Niklas, Vienna, Austria (SC member)
• Martin Ernerth, Berlin, Germany (SC member)
• Thodoris Tzoumas, Skiathos, Greece (SC member)
• Melissa Lamaida, Bologna, Italy (SC member)
• Andreea Pop, Bucharest, Romania (SC member)
• Miquel Trepal Celis, Barcelona, Spain (SC member)
• John Moffat, Liverpool, United Kingdom (SC member)

Newly elected president Lidija Pliberšek nominated new delegated representatives:

• Ian Dungavell, London, United Kingdom
• Olaf Ihlefeldt, Berlin, Germany

2. Steering Committee and presidency work in the past 4 years was presented by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek.

3. Financial report for 2018. A well balanced finances statement provides secure future for general work of ASCE. Mrs Lidija Pliberšek presented the surplus achieved that is invested into future work of ASCE.

4. New members of ASCE, European Cemeteries route and new significant cemeteries were presented and provided certificates of membership.

5. Scientific Representative report was presented by Andreea Pop, highlighting the editorial work for AGM and future ideas on improving scientific work.

6. List of hosts for AGM 2020-22 was presented. Host of AGM 2020 (Milano) invited participants to the next year's event.

7. Mr Dušan Vrban as the manager of the European Cemeteries Route presented the ideas for further developments. One of the most important projects is the first ever European Cemeteries Tour that will take place in Croatia in May 2020.

8. An overview of other important projects that are taking place at ASCE and Route were presented by Mr Dušan Vrban. Among many projects that take place at ASCE, WDEC, Schools on cemeteries, Symbols and Stories were emphasised.

9. Special report was prepared by our host, city of Ghent with complete overview of the conference.

Photos from the AGM and conference are available at this album.

Open History Classes Week - at the New Cemetery in Belgrade (Serbia)

Evolution of Cremation, Ecology, Ethics and Solidarity – International Conference in Belgrade (Serbia)