The monumental cemetery of Florence and the grave of the author of Pinocchio
Plus a quick visit to the medieval church of San Miniato al Monte.
Ciao and welcome to The Florence Insider newsletter!
I hope you spent a happy holiday season with your beloved ones, and wish you a great 2024!
I celebrated Christmas twice, a first time in Tuscany with my family, and a second one in Veneto, with my partner’s family. More families, more drama, more food. A quite challenging Christmas.
The monumental cemetery of Florence and the grave of the author of Pinocchio
Piazzale Michelangelo is really an unmissable place, the panoramic terrace with the most beautiful view of the city. The show of the Arno sparkling under the Ponte Vecchio at sunset is free and will always leaves you breathless, even after a thousand of times. The beauty of the place is certainly no secret, and in fact it is always full of tourists. But a few meters further there is a place that is always quiet, peaceful and not touristy at all: the cemetery.
First, the medieval church of San Miniato al Monte
The Porte Sante cemetery spans all around the church of San Miniato al Monte, dating back to the 12th century, a wonder of medieval architecture, packed with artworks. The church and cemetery are located on the top of the same hill as Piazzale Michelangelo, just a little higher, and offer the same wonderful view.
When you enter the church of San Miniato al Monte it's like taking a leap back in time, centuries back. Not only the architecture, but also the paintings, the light and the smell of incense take me back to the Middle Ages, especially when the monks of the nearby Benedictine abbey celebrate a singing mass in Latin.
They also have a small shop where they sell their own products: herbal teas, soaps, candles, liquors and the gorgeous cakes, cookies and pastries made by the loving hands of father Ildebrando, pastry chef and monk.
Then, wandering in the graveyard
The Porte Sante cemetery is not as old as the church, it was built in the second half of the 19th century to welcome the Florentine deceased after, for hygienic reasons, burials inside churches were prohibited, as was common for many centuries.
It is a small city of the dead, which reflects in every way the city of the living: just like Florence, which lies a few meters below, the Porte Sante Cemetery is covered in marble, white marble above all, but also the pink and green ones that decorate the city's medieval churches. Even the funeral chapels are reminiscent of the great Florentine churches, with shapes and details that recall Santa Croce, the Duomo or Santa Maria Novella. Crosses, statues, angels and other marble sculptures arise everywhere, as in an open-air sculpture museum.
The tombstones tell the lives of Florentines of the last two centuries, ordinary people but also local celebrities. Artists, writers, musicians, film and theater directors and actors, football players, politicians and businessmen. Mothers, fathers, children, grandparents and grandchildren. Tombstones are often decorated with a photograph of the deceased, a typically Catholic tradition that I really like, because it's nice to see the faces of the people we loved. Family members choose the most beautiful picture for the tomb of a loved one, the one that best represents his/her personality, and I like to imagine a life behind a picture on a grave from the last century.
The grave of Carlo Collodi, writer of Pinocchio
There are many famous people buried here, most of them notable local personalities, so they are quite unknown outside Italy, and often even outside Florence. But there is one that everyone knows, no matter what country you are from. He is Carlo Lorenzini known as Collodi, the author of Pinocchio. Pinocchio is a universal icon, a children's book translated into all the languages of the world, but he’s from Florence, and it is deeply Tuscan.
Carlo Lorenzini was born in Florence, and has always lived here working as a journalist and writer: he wrote Pinocchio as a serialized novel to be published in a local newspaper, and it was an unexpected success.
His grave is a family chapel located in a row of identical chapels. It is almost indistinguishable from the others, the only sign of recognition is the family name written at the top: Lorenzini. There are no signs showing that the famous writer is buried here, other than a few flowers or Pinocchio dolls that every now and then someone leaves on the door. Inside the chapel there is a portrait bust of Carlo Collodi, but the curtains are always drawn and it cannot be seen.
But I know that he’s in there, and that he rests together with his nephew Paolo, also a writer of children's books with the pen name of Collodi Nephew (unfortunately his most famous book, Sussi e Biribissi, was not translated in English).
P.s. I didn't mentioned Disney's version of Pinocchio because it's bad! It was such a disappointment when I was a child! The story has been totally distorted, but the real Pinocchio, the one in the book, is waaaay much cooler.
If you've never read it, I recommend you read the original The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
To learn more:
More pictures and info about the Porte Sante cemetery
All the places about Pinocchio in Florence
One recipe from Florence
Gnudi - one of my comfort foods since childhood, I ate them two days ago and it was amazing! It’s a typical Tuscan dish, and is very easy to make. Gnudi means naked in Tuscan dialect, because they actually are the naked filling of ravioli, little yummy balls of ricotta cheese and spinaches, without the pasta around it. They can be cooked in many ways, for example with tomato sauce or in broth. But my favorite version is the traditional one, seasoned with butter and sage.
Here is a good recipe of gnudi, almost identical to my mom’s one.
About me
Ciao, my name is Claudia Vannucci, I am a licensed tour guide of Florence with over 10 years of experience, and I have been mentioned on Lonely Planet and Fodor’s Travel, yay!
The Florence Insider is my website where I blog about traveling Florence, art and history. There are tons of useful tips for a traveller, and also my private guided tours
Travel Florence 101
If you're planning a trip to Florence, Italy, here's what you need to know to get started:
Thanks for reading, see you in a month!
Claudia