Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium (Arnhem, Netherlands)

Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium lies in delightful surroundings and, aside from being a last resting place, is also popular with walkers.

The origin of the name

Moscowa Cemetery (1873) derives its name from the manor farm of the same name, which is just outside the cemetery. The farm was built in 1847 by Jacob Carel Jan baron van Heeckeren van Enghuizen. He was a military man in heart and soul who liked to name his farms after the military campaigns he undertook while serving in the French army - in this case a campaign to Moscow in 1812 under Napoleon.

Cemetery structure

Moscowa has two chapels. The buildings have the typical pointed form. Entering one of the chapels, you will see towards the end of the walkway an unusual triangular stained glass window comprising some five thousand coloured pieces of glass. The windows, developed by graphic designer Jan P.C. van Doorn, evoke interaction. The pattern is of vegetation rising from the ground, dominated by horizontal and vertical lines.

Moscowa opened a crematorium in 1974. The site features a beautiful urn garden with a wide variety of memorials, many created by artists from Arnhem and the surrounding area. Ashes may also be interred in or on an existing grave.

A popular walking site

Moscowa currently covers over thirty hectares. The burial park which dates back more than 135 years is characterised by its lovely setting, monumental design and huge diversity of flora. The many unusual conifer trees are an especially striking feature. A wide variety of birds breed at Moscowa, including the Green Woodpecker, the Tawny Owl and the Buzzard, but songbirds are also well represented. In the autumn, there is a wide array of fungi, including the Cauliflower mushroom, Fly Agaric, Bay Bolete and Penny Bun or Porcino. This makes Moscowa not only a last resting place, but also popular with walkers.

Artistic and historical value

There are a multitude of historic and art-historic reasons to take a stroll around Moscowa. There are many very special monuments and tombs signed by artists and sculptors, in all kinds of different materials. Among the more striking in the collection are a truncated obelisk, an intricately embroidered pall over a coffin and an ornately sculpted neo-Gothic cross, but also a monument with great symbolism representing Faith, Hope and Charity, an Art Nouveau memorial and a mausoleum (the only one of its kind).

Address

Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium
Waterbergseweg 18
6815 AP Arnhem
The Netherlands

Contacts

Tel.: +31 (0)26 445 63 47
Fax: +31 (0)26 445 75 25
E-mail: info@moscowa.nl

Website: www.moscowa.nl

Easter Events @ Glasnevin Museum

To commemorate the 97th anniversary of the Easter Rising Glasnevin Trust is running a series of events over the Holiday period.

The Sant Antoni Abat Cemetery (Alcoy, Spain)

This interesting cemetery (also known as the Cantagallet Cemetery) is a space of social representation and reflection of the industrial society in Alcoi.

About the cemetery

In 1812 the first open air cemetery outside Alcoi was opened. It is known as the Old Cemetery. It 1885 it was considered to be too close to the city. This fact together with the ravaging epidemics of cholera made it convenient to set up the present premises of Cantagallet or Sant Antoni Abat Cemetery, as a temporary solution.

Later, the decision to acquire a larger plot and to develop a project for a permanent cemetery on that spot was made. The winning project was that by the local engineer Enrique Vilaplana Julià, which was dated August 29, 1889.

Artistic and cultural value of the cemetery

The cemetery became an actual space of social representation, a genuine reflection of the industrial society in Alcoi, by developing different typologies and enclosures as time went by.

The area with greatest wealth and artistic variety in the cemetery is that of the free-standing family or individual vaults, authentic architecture in miniature where diverse artists had considerable creative freedom, and where an evolution of the artistic stylesas is evident - from the most widespread Eclecticism to historicism, revivals, Modernism of Nouveau and Sezession styles and, finally, to examples of Art Déco and Rationalism.

Thanks to these heritage values,  Sant Antoni Abat Cemetery was included in the European Cemeteries Route, which is considered a Cultural Route by the Council of Europe, since 2012.

Points of interests

Sant Antoni Abat Cemetery has not many important personalities buried there, but its attraction is mainly based in the different typologies generated along the time and its social stratification.

• Common graves: from 1889. They are those which had, at the beginning, the greatest constructive presence in the necropolis, being decorated with small wooden or iron crosses.
• Niches: from 1893. They are vertical constructions. Some of them house authentic works of art in the reliefs of the tombstones.
• Grave-niches: from 1893. They are bourgeois constructions, aesthetically similar to the free-standing vaults, but constructed against the wall.
• Graves of elegant zone: from 1894. They occupy the central part of the common graves’ area, with a variety of styles.
• Free-standing Vaults: from 1894. They present a wide catalogue of architectural and sculptural styles.
• Underground Galleries of San Severo, San Fabián and San Antonio: from 1895. Ventilated and illuminated. They were constructed taking advantage of the different levels of the area and economizing on space.
• Priests’ Enclosure, with public chapel: 1905. Project by Timoteo Briet.
• Hypogea: from 1909. Attached vaults designed by Timoteo Briet, inspired by the ones of Barcelona’s Montjuïc Cemetery.
• Civil Cemetery: from 1909. It is highlighted its similarity to an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, with many vegetation and non-Catholic symbolism.
• Military plot: from 1910. Created because of the Infantry Regiment Quarter that existed in Alcoy at that time.
• Nuns’ Enclosure: from 1925. For all the congregations of Alcoy.
• The Monumental Cross: 1939. Projected by José Cortés. It was located, at the end of the Spanish Civil War, in the place initially meant for the cemetery chapel. At present it has lost any political connotation.
• Columbaria: from 1969. A standard, functional building to save space. It corresponds to the need to place funeral urns of cremations or human rests.
• Cenotaph: 1990. Built as ossuary and memorial. Inspired by the Woodland Chapel of Stockholm.
• Ash pit: 2010. New type to hold the ashes from cremations.

Important events taking place at the cemetery

Some guided cultural visits are being organized in the cemetery by the Tourist Info Alcoy as well as by private companies, always with a high number of participants.

Moreover an informative leaflet with a map and interesting places to see at the cemetery has been prepared by the City Council of Alcoy, with the aim to enable people making the route by themselves.

Below, you can watch a short presentation video of the cemetery entitled "Alcoi. Cemetery Sant Antoni Abat: the Sleeping City."

Tourist information

Tourist Info Alcoy
Plaça d’Espanya, 14
03801 Alcoy (Alicante)
Spain

tel +34 965 53 71 55
fax: +34 965 53 71 53
email: alcoi@touristinfo.net

www.alcoyturismo.com

Exhibition "Bologna Certosa with Dickens’ eyes"

The Associazione Amici della Certosa di Bologna in collaboration with Bologna Museo civico del Risorgimento and with Minerva Edizioni, worked together to organize this exhibition.

Free guided tours in the Funeral Carriage Collection

On 5th January was performed the first free guided tour in the Funeral Carriage Collection, that is placed in a new location in Montjuïc Cemetery.

Find a replica of the angel of the Oneto tomb

The angel of the Oneto tomb in Staglieno (Genova), masterpiece by Giulio Monteverde, is one of the most famous sculpture in the world.

Launch of the book "Lo splendore della forma. La scultura negli spazi della memoria" in Rome

On Thursday 24 January 2013, h. 5 pm, Mauro Felicori and Franco Sborgi present the proceedings of ASCE Annual General Meeting held in Verona in 2006 ("Lo splendore della forma. La scultura negli spazi della memoria").

Book: Westerveld: a monumental journey of discovery

An interesting book that explores the Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium in Driehuis, Netherlands.

About the book

The memorial park of Westerveld Cemetery & Crematorium, part of "the Facultatieve Group", features many great monuments - each with its own story.

The book Westerveld: A Monumental Journey of Discovery (original title: Westerveld: Een monumentale ontdekkingstocht) discusses one hundred years of special monuments, including those of Anthony Fokker, Lex Goudsmit, Multatuli and Pim Fortuyn. The book also includes a detailed map, giving readers the opportunity to discover for themselves the special sites and beauty of Westerveld.

The book encompasses a well-thought-out selection. "That was quite a challenge, given that all our monuments are special and each has its own story to tell", said director Carla Bosua, "The monuments in the book are special because of their unique character, cultural-historical value and/or fame of the deceased. Therefore, the book includes not only classical monuments, but also very contemporary ones. And naturally describes also urn monuments”.

Photo exhibition in Aviles

Enjoy the Photo Exhibition in Aviles, Spain. Opened until January 13th 2013.

The church of San Girolamo della Certosa

Founded in 1334, the Church of San Girolamo della Certosa was the physical and ideological heart of the Carthusian monastery to which it belonged, until the suppression of the monastic building occurred in 1796 and the subsequent reutilization of the edifice as an urban cemetery since 1801.

Bologna: unveiled the plaque in memory of Charles Dickens

The unveiling of the plaque in memory of Charles Dickens, that took place on November 11, 2012, at the Certosa cemetery in Bologna, was enthusiastically received by the public.

Launch of the book "Lo splendore della forma. La scultura negli spazi della memoria"

On Saturday 24 November 2012, h. 4 pm, Mauro Felicori and Franco Sborgi present the proceedings of ASCE Annual General Meeting held in Verona in 2006 ("Lo splendore della forma. La scultura negli spazi della memoria").

The conference will take place in the City of Ormea (Cuneo, Italy) at Palazzo Prof. Bassi.

Important Monuments on the North Cemetery | Wiesbaden, Germany

Guided tour, Sunday, November 25, 2012; 14.00 starting at the main entrance.

A Soldier’s Story: The photographer

Father Francis Browne SJ (1880-1960) – A Jesuit Priest, Father Francis Browne was a Photographer who took over 42,000 photographs including the last pictures of The Titanic and Photos of the front line during WW1.

Book: Biografia di un cimitero italiano. La Certosa di Bologna

The book that offers an in-depth exploration of the history, art, and cultural significance of one of Italy’s most remarkable cemeteries.

About the book

The book "Biografia di un cimitero italiano. La Certosa di Bologna" (Eng. Biography of an Italian Cemetery. The Certosa of Bologna) is the result of four years of archival research on previously unpublished documents. It is the first attempt, within the framework of studies on 19th-century European cemeteries, to reconstruct in its entirety the activity of a modern necropolis, covering a period of more than a century, from its Napoleonic origins to the First World War.

More info:

Società editrice il Mulino
+39 051256011
diffusione@mulino.it
www.mulino.it

Public collection in Podgorze | Krakow, Poland

On 1st and 3rd November, the Association PODGORZE.PL, organized its 8th annual public collection in the New Podgorze Cemetery in Krakow for the renovation of historically valuable graves.

Hamburg has the most beautiful cemetery in Germany

Ohlsdorf Cemetery was named Germany’s most beautiful cemetery by a jury led by Cardinal Karl Lehmann.

Hamburg has the most beautiful cemetery in Germany. At least, according to a jury organized by the Bishop of Mainz, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, which declared Ohlsdorf Cemetery the winner of the award sponsored by the website Bestattungen.de. “Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg, with an area of 555 soccer fields, is one of the largest park cemeteries in the world,” a jury member said. Despite its size, the site is idyllic, he noted.

Second place went to the Forest Cemetery in the Bavarian capital of Munich. The main cemetery of Mainz, the capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate, won third place. The award for the most beautiful cemetery in Germany was started by Bestattungen.de in 2011. The aim of the award is to “encourage society to approach the topic of death with more awareness,” Lehmann said.

(source: dpa, Germany.info)

EUCEMET exhibition in Avilés

Algunas fotos se presentan incrustadas en una cruz. ::Sergio Lopez

Going to a cemetery does not have to be necessarily related to grief, to tragedy, to mourn, to death.

Vienna cemeteries get a find-a-grave App

(source: Austrian Times, 31-10-2012)
Europe's largest cemetery with more than 300,000 graves has unveiled a new smartphone app to help people find their loved ones because so many people were getting lost around the sprawling grounds of the Austrian capital Vienna's Zentralfriedhof.

The new cemetery App will not just be useful for relatives looking for loved ones but also for people doing research into family histories and for cemetery staff looking to find certain graves, said Vienna cemetery spokesman Markus Pinter.

One of the reasons that cemetery officials need to find graves is because they are rented on an initial 10 year contract and after that can be extended for periods of 5 years at a time or more. If anybody fails to pay and fails to act on the requests for payment then they lose the right to rent the grave and it is rented to a new tenant. The grave is then reopened and the body put further down – typically at a depth of around 2.8 m – allowing the new body to be placed in the space above.

And tourists will also find it interesting – interred in the Zentralfriedhof are notables such as Beethoven and Schubert who were moved there in 1888, and Johannes Brahms, Antonio Salieri, Johann Strauss II and Arnold Schoenberg. There is a cenotaph erected in honour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but he was actually buried in nearby St. Marx Cemetery.

And the new App will be usable on all of the city's 50 cemeteries.

The Zentralfriedhof (German for "Central Cemetery") name is because of its significance as Vienna's biggest cemetery, not of its geographic location, as it is not situated in the outskirts in the outer city district of Simmering.

The musician Wolfgang Ambros honoured the Zentralfriedhof in his 1975 song "Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof" ("Long live the Zentralfriedhof"), marking with it the 100th anniversary of the cemetery's opening.

The Vienna Central Cemetery is not one that has evolved slowly with the passing of time unlike many others. The decision to establish a new, big cemetery for Vienna came in 1863. Around that time, it became clear that – due to industrialisation – the city's population would eventually increase to such an extent that the existing communal cemeteries would prove insufficient. It was expected that Vienna, then capital of the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, would grow to have four million inhabitants by the end of the 20th century, no-one could know that the Empire would collapse in 1918.

The city council therefore decided to assign an area significantly outside of the city's borders and of such a gigantic dimension, that it would suffice for a long time to come. It was decided in 1869 that a flat area in Simmering should be the site of the future Zentralfriedhof.

The official opening of the Central Cemetery took place on All Saints' Day, on 1 November 1874. The first burial was that of Jacob Zelzer and 15 other dead people followed the same day. The grave of Jacob Zelzer still exists today and is located near the administration building at the cemetery wall.

The cemetery spans 2.4 square kilometres with 3.3 million interred here, up to 20-25 burials daily. Cremation is not very popular in Austria, the rate currently hovers around 20 percent.

The App was commissioned after it was found that 30% of people visiting the cemetery had difficulty locating the gravestones that they wanted to find.

Austrian Times

Weblink: http://austriantimes.at/news/Travel/2012-10-31/45130/Vienna_cemeteries_get_a_find-a-grave_App

Cemetery Tourism | TV Slovenia

On November 1st, TV Slovenia  broadcast the programme about tourism »Na lepše«.