Cimitero delle Porte Sante, Monumental cemetery in the San Miniato al Monte bastion, Florence, Italy

Cimitero delle Porte Sante is a burial ground at San Miniato al Monte in Florence that spreads across multiple terraces within a fortified bastion. You will find rows of chapels, sculptures, and ornamental marble tombstones throughout the space.

The idea of a burial ground near San Miniato arose around 1837; the cemetery was inaugurated in 1848. Count Piero Masetti promoted the project, and architect Niccolò Matas designed it. In 1864 Mariano Falcini enlarged it using the 16th-century fortress area around the church. The Masetti family managed it until the early 20th century, when Virginia Middleton transferred it to the City of Florence.

The cemetery holds the graves of Carlo Collodi, author of Pinocchio, and Pellegrino Artusi, whose 1891 cookbook codified Italian home cooking. Also buried here are filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, actor Paolo Poli and tenor Tommaso Salvini. The Pettini chapel was decorated by Galileo Chini.

The cemetery is reachable on foot from Piazzale Michelangelo in about five minutes and is open from 9:00 to 17:00 Monday through Saturday. Wear comfortable shoes since the grounds have several slopes and staircases to navigate.

The Mazzone siblings' tomb features two stone figures in a dance, expressing their eternal bond through carved movement. This unusual memorial is one of the details visitors often overlook when walking through the grounds.