Odd question about Venice's San Michele Cemetery
 

My students are watching "The Wings of the Dove" which has a burial at San Michele Cemetery in it. I told them I'd been there and they were wondering if it's running out of room and if there are any restrictions on who can be buried there these days. I didn't know. Any Venice experts know?

I haven't checked this information, but I seem to remember reading that - unless you're Stravinski or equally famous - burial at San Michele is a very temporary thing. Ten years and your burial site expires.

I read a mystery novel, Donna Leon I think, set in Venice. She and most mystery writers usually deal in facts so I would trust this information.

As Zerlina said, in the novel after 10 years the remains (after 10 years, just bones) were removed from a "private" gravesite, and added to a community "pile" at the back of the cemetery. A family might choose to rebury the remains in a mainland cemetery if they want to pay to do so.

I was there in March and agree exactly with Zerlina's answer- I think 10 years and you get the boot, if you aren't famous.

Thanks for the replies. I seem to remember some pretty old graves, so the new policy must have been recently enacted.

Amazing that families would not be bothered by the mass burial. No marker to visit after 10 years? Doesn't seem very long.

Hi Cimbrone, I don't know about the San Michele Cemetery but I do know around Italy in recent times that yes after so many years (I thought it was 20 years but maybe the location makes a difference) the remains are removed from their gravesite and all bones are put in a common gravesite. It sort of freaked me out when an Italian friend in Italy (who lives in the Region of Veneto) told me this after his grandmother died about eight years ago. And my Rome born and bred son-in-law said the same thing when his father died two years ago in Rome.

Bizarre. Maybe there's a wall somewhere nearby with names engraved on it.

Tripadvisor.com's Venice forum has a few Venetian locals as posters. If you want a confirmation on what's stated above, they might be of help.

Here's part of a NY Times article from 1993 that discusses this:

"Venice is no ordinary city, and neither is its cemetery. Until the early 19th century, Venetians usually buried their dead under paving stones within the central city -- not a salutary practice, particularly in times of pestilence. So the Austrian occupation decreed in 1837 that San Michele would be the only possible burial ground for most Venetians. (A Jewish cemetery dating from the 14th century is on the Lido.) Since San Michele is a very small island, however, it is usually only a temporary resting place. After about 12 years, most remains are exhumed and either cremated or deposited in an ossuary on the mainland. A few privileged families can lease space longer."

from
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/..._in_venice.htm


"The bodies in each row of graves are allowed to decompose for twelve years, at which point they're dug up. Occupants whose families can pay for reinterment are transferred to small metal boxes for permanent storage in smaller quarters. The less well-heeled get tossed into a nearby boneyard."

My Venetian friend's father died this year..he will remain permanently at San Michele. (I'm not sure if he will have to go into a box and shelved or not!)