A Guide To Bonaria Cemetery, Cagliari

If you have a thing for quirky places, you will want to visit Bonaria Cemetery (also known as Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria or Cimitero Monumentale di Bonaria in Italian) in Cagliari.

Much more than a burial ground, this cemetery is an open air museum, showcasing the works of some of the most prominent local artists of the 19th and 20th century.

Bonaria Cemetery was the place where nobles, bourgeoisie and the most important public figures of Cagliari were buried until a few decades ago. Recently, Italian soccer legend Gigi Riva (who lived in Cagliari after he played for Cagliari football team and lead it to win its only “scudetto”) was also buried there after a heartfelt and widely attended public funeral.

The Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria is a large cemetery, structured in squared areas – like most cemeteries – and although some parts have been neglected and are a bit in ruins, it hosts a great number of remarkable artworks, especially statues, and some private chapels.

This is a truly pleasant place for a walk on a sunny day, and you can actually learn a lot about the history and culture of Cagliari when if you visit – especially if you decide to go on a guided tour.

Needless to say, as a local I have been to the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria many times, including on a guided tour that I found to be very insightful. So I thought I’d pick your interest by sharing its history and its most important landmarks.

History Of The Monumental Cemetery Of Bonaria

Up until quite recently (beginning of the 19th century) many cities used to bury their loved ones nearby the churches, in the center of the city. This practice led to many issues for the cities and, because of the poor hygienic conditions, to several epidemics.

Cagliari was no different, but things changed following a cholera outbreak in 1816, when 583 people died in Cagliari within four months. Back then only 12000 people lived in the city, so this was quite a large number. Such a high number of corpses meant it would be impossible to bury them all in the small cemeteries next to the churches, or inside.

It was then decided to apply the same rules that Napoleon Bonaparte stated in his 1804 Edict of Saint-Cloud, which established that corpses should be buries outside the city walls.

It was thus decided to build a new cemetery at the bottom of Bonaria hill. The area chosen for the new cemetery was already a burial ground since ancient times. Both the Punics and the Romans had used the hill to bury their dead, and there are numerous findings to prove the presence of a huge necropolis.

The construction works were overlooked by Captain Luigi Damiano and completed at the end of 1828. The cemetery was then consecrated by Archbishop Nicolò Navoni on 28 December 1828. The first burial took place on 1 January 1829.

The cemetery was originally expected to only take the space at Bonaria’s Hill’s feet, but as time progressed, it was decided to expand it more and more until the tombs reached the top of the hill.

The cemetery structure itself has been planned by excellent architects of the time: one of the best examples would be Gaetano Cima’s staircase (locally known as “gradoni Cima”) that goes from the hill’s feet to its top, optimizing the steep space to put as many tombs as possible.

In 1968, burials were moved to San Michele Cemetery and Bonaria became a place of memories, and the open-air museum it is nowadays. Several chapels have been put on sale again, probably in an attempt to restore the original beauty of the place (not that it lacks any!) and, as I have said at the beginning of this post, Gigi Riva was buried there.

Most Remarkable Artworks At The Cimitero Monumentale Di Bonaria

Several important people are buried in the cemetery, and many of their tombs and chapels are decorated with beautiful statues in a variety of styles – from Neogothic to Neoclassic and Liberty.

Scattered across the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria are the mausoleums and statues by prominent local artists, often competing for fame against each other. The most famous ones are by Giuseppe Sartorio, often referred to as the “Michelangelo of the Deads.” He was one of the main funerary artists of the times.

Sartorio was actually from Northern Italy but found fame and wealth in Sardinia, where he moved in 1885 after having won a call for tender to create a statue of Quintino Sella (a mining magnate) in the town of Iglesias.

Other prominent artists whose works can be admired at the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria are Tito Sarrocchi, Andrea Valli, Federico Casanova, Francesco Ciusa, Giovanni Battista Trojani.

Let’s finally check out the most important pieces in the cemetery.

Efisino Devoto

The statue is part of the Devoto family chapel and was sculpted by Giuseppe Sartorio, in his typical hyper-realistic style. It represents a small kid, Efisino, seated on a small chair with a toy in his hands, apparently asleep.

In reality, the statue was likely sculpted after the baby’s death, and the kid was probably put on the chair to pose for an after-death picture.

Francesca Warzee

Another great work from Giuseppe Sartorio, this group of statues represents the young Francesca Warzee, wife of a rich Belgian businessman, on her deathbed, and her son, who is covering her with a blanket, and giving her one last kiss – which incidentally is the artwork’s name: the Last Kiss.

The main function of this statue is to bring the focus on who is left to mourn a loss instead of focusing on the dead person.

Giuseppe Todde and Luigia Oppo

Giuseppe Todde was one of the most important Italian economists of the late 1800s and commissioned his funerary statue when still alive – he lived three more years after the work’s completion.

The statues, sculpted once again by Giuseppe Sartorio, represent Luigia Oppo, Giuseppe Todde’s widow (who lived 30 years longer than her husband and therefore had the singular experience to visit a tomb with her statue for quite a long time!) in an incredibly realistic style, with care to all details, from the facial expressions down to the clothes’ fabric.

The man’s statue is, on the contrary, simpler, as to put more emphasis on the widow’s pain rather than on her deceased husband.

Carlo Sanna

Carlo Sanna was a World War I hero, chief of the Brigata Sassari, the most important military troops in Sardinia. His tomb, despite not being particularly “artistic”, is huge and monumental nonetheless, while at the same time extremely simple.

It was designed by Filippo Figari and consists of a red granite tomb with a laurel wreath on top of it and a long epigraph to remember his feats.

Giovanni Spano

Giovanni Spano (often referred to as Canonico Spano) is an essential figure in Sardinia’s modern history and culture. He was a churchman, an avid reader, scholar and archeologist, and the dean of Cagliari’s University. He did many services in different areas of expertise and was respected by everyone.

For his merits, he was gifted with a free lot of land in Bonaria Cemetery, which basically meant he could choose where and how to build his tomb.

Canonico Spano chose to be buried in an ancient Roman sarcophagus he had found earlier, with a simple epigraph; a more complex epigraph was added after his death, to remember the man he was and the services he did for the city.

Other statues at the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria

Other important people buried in Bonaria Cemetery are Ottone Baccaredda, the most famous Cagliari major who brought a lot of changes to the city. You will also be able to admire the tomb of the already mentioned Gaetano Cima, one of the biggest influences and helps in Cagliari’s urban development.

Guide For Visiting Bonaria Cemetery

Bonaria Cemetery opening hours

The Cimitero Monumentale di Bonaria is open from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and on Thursdays, either from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm (November to March) or from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm (April to October). There is no admission fee.

Guided tours of the Cemetery of Bonaria

You can visit Bonaria Monumental Cemetery on your own or join a guided tour. Arasolé, a local tour company, runs group tours on a regular basis.

How to get there

If you are staying in the center of Cagliari (Stampace, Villanova or La Marina) you can actually walk to Bonaria Cemetery: it’s roughly a 15 minute walk from Via Roma, along Viale Diaz.

If you’d rather take the bus, you can hop on Buses 5 or PF that run regularly from Piazza Matteotti and along via Roma.

Further Readings

Looking for more places to visit in Cagliari? Make sure to read these posts:

• The Best Things To Do In Cagliari
• The Nicest Churches In Cagliari
• Where To Go For A Walk In Cagliari
• A Short Guide To Castello
• A Quick Guide To Stampace
• A Curated Guide To Villanova
• A Local Guide To La Marina
• The Best Beaches In Cagliari
• A Guide To Poetto Beach
• A Guide To Visiting Molentargius Nature Park
• The Nicest Parks In Cagliari

Pin It For Later!