Florence Cemeteries Guided Tours

Cemeteries are one of my biggest interests! I love their peaceful atmosphere, and the co-existence of art, nature and architecture. Here in Italy cemeteries are often monumental and they are like open-air museums of art and local history. I love wandering among the tombstones of Florence Cemeteries, learning something about the people of the past, indulging in vintage portraits and words of loss written on stone. I feel like I am contributing to keep alive the memory of those people.

When I was studying history of architecture of gardens at the University of Florence, I focused my researches on local cemeteries. They are definitely historical gardens! So when I became a tour guide, it came very natural to me to offer guided tours of the Florence Cemeteries.

In 2019 I wrote and published a book about cemeteries and about my travels trough the cemeteries of all over the world (it’s titled “Cemetery Safari”, and it’s only in italian, sorry!). I am now working on my next book that is going to be about Italian cemeteries.

Florence Cemeteries – the most beautiful ones

Florence is rich in beautiful and ancient cemeteries, even if they are quite recent if compared to the long history of the city: most of them were built between the late XVIII century and the second half of the XIX. In addition to the many catholic burial places, there are also graveyards for other christian churches, for the jewish community and non-denominational cemeteries.

Now let me show you the Florence cemeteries that are worthy of a visit for of their history, beauty and celebrities who are buried there.

Cimitero delle Porte Sante – Holy Gates Cemetery

This is surely the most popular one, and for some good reasons. First, it’s located less than 500 meters away from Piazzale Michelangelo, the must-see panoramic point. From the Cemetery you can enjoy the same stunning view on the city. Also, the Porte Sante Cemetery is spread around the church of San Miniato al Monte, one of the most beautiful examples of medieval architecture in Florence. Being founded in 1013, it’s more than a thousand years old!

Among the many local celebrities there is Carlo Collodi, the writer of Pinocchio, who’s resting here (learn more about the links between Pinocchio and Florence!).

I give both private tours and small group tours of the Porte Sante Cemetery!

• To learn more about the cemetery and the guided tours read:

The English Cemetery of Florence

Also called The Isle of Death, this little but charming cemetery welcomed the large and lively British and American communities of the XIX century. Actually it’s English for name only, as it was founded by the Swiss Church. The people resting here are coming from 16 different nations, belonging to different non-catholic faith. It’s surrounded by a large and busy road, but this little beautiful garden, with roses, statues and cypresses will soon make you forget about the modern city life. It’s like suspended in time and it’s a wonderful peaceful corner where I love to escape.

Here are buried writers and poets, scientists and artists, preachers and travelers. Many of them fought against slavery and are important figures for the Civil Rights movement. The most famous one is Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet, writer and wife of Robert Browning.

I give both private tours and small group tours of the English Cemetery!

• To learn more about the cemetery and the guided tours read:

Monumental Cemetery of Antella – Cimitero monumentale della Misericordia di Antella

This cemetery is mostly unknown because it’s located outside of the city of Florence, in the small village of Antella. It’s such a pity, because it’s one of the most beautiful and surprising cemeteries around! Between 1906 and 1946 it was decorated by the local artist Galileo Chini, one of the masters of Italian Art Nouveau, who also painted the Royal Palace in Thailand. Frescos, mosaics, ceramics, cast iron works, tiles and much more, everything was designed by Galileo and his nephew Tito, and produced in their factory Manifattura Fornaci San Lorenzo. The Monumental Cemetery of Antella it’s full of masterpieces, and a perfect example of Italian architectural cemeteries.

You can easily get there from the center of Florence by bus (line n. 32, direction “Antella”), it’s a 40 minutes ride from piazza San Marco.

Sorry, I give only private tours of this cemetery!

If you are interested into this tour or you want more information feel free to email me using this form!