Non-Catholic Cemetery

"It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place," wrote the poet Shelley.

The Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome is the resting place of poets John Keats (buried next to close friend Joseph Severn) and Percy Shelley, as well as Antonio Gramsci, a founder of European Communism.

My Museum History class was lead on a tour through the Non-Catholic Cemetery by a dedicated volunteer. He showed us a cemetery filled with other authors, diplomats, sculptors and painters.

Not only does the cemetery contain the graves of Protestants, but it also consists of Jews and other non-Christians. The Non-Catholic Cemetery has the only grave in the world with both a cross and a Star of David.


The cemetery is filled with simply decorated blocks, crosses, sculptures, and elaborate tombs. Half the cemetery lacks crosses due to an early prohibition against crosses in the Non-Catholic Cemetery. Even a Pagan symbol, the Pyramid of Cestius built into the Aurelian Walls, borders the edge of the cemetery.

It became a place of pilgrimage, especially for authors. Oscar Wilde proclaimed it as "the holiest place in Rome." The cemetery still buries one to two people per month if people "qualify."


It seems a bit morbid to say, but I love cemeteries. The combination of the sculpture incorporated into the graves and the quiet throughout the cemetery is comforting and relaxing. I cannot decide if it is sinful to take pictures or not, though. It was too beautiful not to. As Haley said, I was able to find the beauty in a place associated with sadness.