Surrounded by streets on a round-about configuration, located on a small hill, the English cemetery is hard not to notice. With its contruction starting in 1828, the cemetery stands as proof of the many foreigners that come to Florence and spent the rest of their lives in the city. The land was originally bought from the duchy of Florence in order to bury people that were not Catholics. Before that, the closest non-catholic cemetery was located in Livorno.

 

In here, you can find delicately carved marble tombs of people originally from England, Switzerland and even Russia. Among the celebrities found in the cemetery is poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and author Walter Savage Landor.

 

The caretaker, Anglican Nun Julia Bolton Holloway, is a wise and passionate woman who has lots of information to share. She has a small library with topics related to her research on the cemetery and specializes in literature from people who have been buried here.

 

Fun fact: The Romani people are in charge of the maintenance of the gardens within the cemetery.

–Luisa Poockey