Il Cimitero Nuovo

New Cemetery - Cimitero Nuovo

I went to the Cimitero Nuovo with P, his mother and Jose' to visit the grave of P's father. We had missed our flight thanks to a misreading by P. He was supposed to go the cemetery twice before with mother, but had stuff to do and didn't go as he usually does. He reasoned that it was thanks to the influence of his late father that we had an extra day and a half . Thus, we finally did go to the cemetery!

I have been to the cemetery in Naples before with some relatives who are now buried there. However, I believe that was the Cimitero Vecchio or Old Cemetery. The Nuovo (New) dates from about 1900. The Vecchio I don't know but it's old, as it name proclaims.

In Naples, when someone dies, they bury them for a year and wait for the body to decompose and desiccate. Then, they dig them up and put them in an anicchia, a niche, in a private or communal mausoleum. I wanted to go a few blocks to the Old Cemetery to visit my people, but there wasn't time. The old cemetery is massive and dense and I don't remember where our mausoleum is, so I couldn't do it. But, as I was close, I communicated to my relatives right from the New Cemetery.

More to Come

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