mr stillingfleet spied this curious little headline hidden away in the back pages of the guardian yesterday and pointed it out to me over tea and scones at boffin hq. its deliciously wodehousian details were so intriguing i had to find out more...
...dry cleaning firm helps save historic cemetery...
A dry cleaning company has answered an urgent call for funds to help restore and preserve the English Cemetery in Florence. There are 700 memorials crammed into the small cemetery, many of them pilgrimage sites for literary fans from all over the world. Many are in need of repair. "We urgently need funds," said Julia Bolton Holloway, an English academic and Anglican nun, who acts as curator, guide and librarian. The Maida Vale, west London, branch of the American Dry Cleaning Company has pledged a quarter of its takings from cleaning formal wear for three months.
behind the brief but intriguing headline is not one but several stories, befitting this small forgotten charnel house on the edge of 19th century florence: a tale of one of the greatest cities in old europe and the exploits of the artists, writers, adventurers and flaneurs attracted to its glamour and allure; of exile, eccentricity, social and religious reforms and dissent. more recently it’s the saga of one enthusiast and her determination that this historic cemetery be kept open, be restored and declared a unesco world heritage site, after years of deterioration and neglect.
and most unexpectedly it is also a story of guerrilla gardening in a city that would hardly seem to need it…
the protestant cemetery in florence, commonly known as the english cemetery due to the large number of english victorian notables interred in its grounds, is surrounded by boulevards and faded mansions, an oval island of peace overtaken by city sprawl and traffic just outside the ring of florence's old walls, that nineteenth-century florence only recently being rediscovered after a long stint playing second fiddle to the golden age of florence, the city of dante aligheri, boccaccio, and the medicis.
the protestant cemetery in florence, commonly known as the english cemetery due to the large number of english victorian notables interred in its grounds, is surrounded by boulevards and faded mansions, an oval island of peace overtaken by city sprawl and traffic just outside the ring of florence's old walls, that nineteenth-century florence only recently being rediscovered after a long stint playing second fiddle to the golden age of florence, the city of dante aligheri, boccaccio, and the medicis.
a tranquil haven of victorian gothic, peaceful avenues and quiet arcades, this is the resting place of a host of english poets and writers including elizabeth barrett browning, walter savage landor and arthur hugh clough, as well as several sculptors such as hiram powers and joel t. hart. its silent rows of eloquent headstones and memorials are alive with a tangle of lavender, rosemary, strawberry plants, box, myrtle, pomegranate and rose bushes, attracting birds, bees, butterflies as well as an array of small mammals and the usual army of semi feral cemetery cats. yet this idyllic setting belies its heretical past and turbulent present.
in 1827 the swiss evangelical reformed church purchased land outside the medieval wall and gate of Porta a' Pinti from leopold II, grand duke of tuscany for an international and ecumenical cemetery, russian and greek Orthodox burials joining protestant ones. at that time this was a lonely spot, with widely scattered houses outside the walls, and inside, between the hamlets of Borgo Pinti and Borgo alla Croce, a few small villas almost hidden among the vegetable gardens and orchards that lined the little roads. burials took place from 1838 to 1877, after which only a few cinerary urns were accepted. the 1409 graves represent sixteen nations: the 760 british graves form the core, followed by the 433 swiss, 87 americans, 84 italians and 54 russians who are buried there. in 1877, the cemetery had to be closed, the medieval wall having been torn down at the time of the risorgimento when florence became capital of italy with code napoleon forbidding burials within city limits, ending a subversive chapter in the city's history - that of a clandestine and non-conformist florence.
for years the old landscaping had been rather ferociously over weeded and by the end of the nineties almost all its nineteenth-century plants had been rooted out, the cemetery a dry and forlorn place. then came curator, librarian and enthusiast, Julia Bolton Holloway, with a vision to heal the gardens, restore it to its 19th century heyday and preserve and promote a new library dedicated to the works of all those buried in the grounds, as well as develop an online catalogue for international researchers, with work currently being undertaken on burial records in england, russia and italy. her labour of love has reaped the benefits, the weed killer replaced by bulbs, volunteers and a thriving gardening centre attached to a fledgling Foundation, where apprenticeships in blacksmithing, masonry, gardening and book binding can be formally provided for the refugee families she has long been working with to restore the forgotten cemetery after 125 years of neglect.
in 1996 the cemetery was reopened for the interment of ashes. this has brought misfortune as well as reward with the swiss owners seeking to clear large sections of the terrain to enable the construction of concrete edifices or loculi for new internment. a petition and details of the campaign to protect this urban wildscape, neighbourhood cultural and social centre, and vernacular historic monument, can be found on the cemetery’s blogsite.
look beyond the headline and sign the petition, or better still take a walk round your nearest cemetery and find out whether it has a friends society or is in danger of becoming a supermarket!
in 1827 the swiss evangelical reformed church purchased land outside the medieval wall and gate of Porta a' Pinti from leopold II, grand duke of tuscany for an international and ecumenical cemetery, russian and greek Orthodox burials joining protestant ones. at that time this was a lonely spot, with widely scattered houses outside the walls, and inside, between the hamlets of Borgo Pinti and Borgo alla Croce, a few small villas almost hidden among the vegetable gardens and orchards that lined the little roads. burials took place from 1838 to 1877, after which only a few cinerary urns were accepted. the 1409 graves represent sixteen nations: the 760 british graves form the core, followed by the 433 swiss, 87 americans, 84 italians and 54 russians who are buried there. in 1877, the cemetery had to be closed, the medieval wall having been torn down at the time of the risorgimento when florence became capital of italy with code napoleon forbidding burials within city limits, ending a subversive chapter in the city's history - that of a clandestine and non-conformist florence.
for years the old landscaping had been rather ferociously over weeded and by the end of the nineties almost all its nineteenth-century plants had been rooted out, the cemetery a dry and forlorn place. then came curator, librarian and enthusiast, Julia Bolton Holloway, with a vision to heal the gardens, restore it to its 19th century heyday and preserve and promote a new library dedicated to the works of all those buried in the grounds, as well as develop an online catalogue for international researchers, with work currently being undertaken on burial records in england, russia and italy. her labour of love has reaped the benefits, the weed killer replaced by bulbs, volunteers and a thriving gardening centre attached to a fledgling Foundation, where apprenticeships in blacksmithing, masonry, gardening and book binding can be formally provided for the refugee families she has long been working with to restore the forgotten cemetery after 125 years of neglect.
in 1996 the cemetery was reopened for the interment of ashes. this has brought misfortune as well as reward with the swiss owners seeking to clear large sections of the terrain to enable the construction of concrete edifices or loculi for new internment. a petition and details of the campaign to protect this urban wildscape, neighbourhood cultural and social centre, and vernacular historic monument, can be found on the cemetery’s blogsite.
look beyond the headline and sign the petition, or better still take a walk round your nearest cemetery and find out whether it has a friends society or is in danger of becoming a supermarket!
