Cimitero di Trespiano

It was a warm, sunny day taking the bus up and out of center-city Florence.  Driving up through the hills and seeing the views was a wonderful way to start the day.  The cemetery itself was also quite beautiful with bright colored flowers decorating nearly each site and the individuals there that were tending to the graves of their loved ones.  This prompted thought about a different kind of afterlife - the one that is granted by those that remember someone after they have finished their time on Earth.  Life after death can come from people like me walking through this cemetery, looking at the pictures that decorated nearly each grave in this site, admiring the different sculptures and stone decoration used to mark their body’s place in the Earth, and think about who they were.  My thought keeps their spirit alive.  I have the image of who they were from their picture, an idea about what kind of person they were based on the decoration of the burial site, and I can let their spirit fill in the blanks.  There is a hope for this afterlife as well.  This perspective on hope can be seen as a partial explanation to the Great Pyramids.  We are still talking about the individuals’ culture who were buried there.  This gives a powerful life after death as we adapt and develop similar ideas about life and death.

Another aspect of this cemetery to note is the tunnel of cyprus trees that covers the walking paths of the lower section of Cimitero di Trespiano.  The idea of sending the spirit up to the Heavens is symbolic and offers a magical pathway for the visitors of the cemetery.  This incredibly picturesque cemetery offered a beautiful view for the residents of the cemetery and has a peaceful sense in its location outside the city.