From Augustus to St. Peter’s, Rome is known as the final resting place of emperors, popes, martyrs and kings. A city whose attractions are no longer represented because they seem so popular. However, the capital of Italy is full of secrets, one of which is unique. Mussolini’s chicken burial is located there. This particular grave is located in Italy’s oldest animal cemetery, which celebrates its centenary this year. The place welcomes dogs and cats, as well as a variety of other faithful companions, to the southwest of the Italian capital. Over the years, a thousand animals have been buried at Casa Rosa (French for “pink house”), where small, brightly painted wooden altars adorned with stuffed animals and figurines sit alongside more traditional headstones shaded by pine and palm trees. trees.
Many boarding houses have famous owners such as the director The good life Federico Fellini, Oscar-winning actress Anna Magnani, and even Brigitte Bardot, whose poodle died while filming The Eternal City. But the most famous is undoubtedly the dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy with an iron fist from 1922 to 1943.
A chicken won the fair
“It really all started with Mussolini’s chicken.”says 73-year-old Luigi Molone, the owner of the cemetery. “Having no land to bury him (…) he brought him here, where his children came with flowers to remember the happy times they spent together.”. Their playmate, who had come home after winning the fair, was buried in the grounds owned by the father of Luigi Molone, Duce’s trusted vet.
The chicken’s tracks have been lost over the years, but it has been imitated, turning the land into an eternal resting place for animals, until then nameless. Today, the cemetery is more plebeian, even if some of the deceased have sonorous names, such as Lord Byron, an Irish setter.
“The house is empty and sad without you”, inscribed on the granite gravestone of Ringo, a German shepherd who died in 1979. On the grave of Kriya Ruga, who died in 2017, a simple “I love you”. Many graves are decorated with photographs of the deceased. Billo the black and white spaniel is surrounded by his loving family, and Jack the Shepherd is shown as a puppy and then as an adult.
A place of meditation for pet owners
Like its counterpart in Asnieres-sur-Seine near Paris, the cemetery is a veritable Noah’s Ark, hosting horses, rabbits, donkeys, hamsters, turtles, ducks, pigeons, parrots and even a lion. Some grieving owners visit their lost companion every day, others every week, reports Luigi Molone.
Ritual of visiting and placing flowers or soft toys on the grave of the deceased animal. “Nothing less than an extension of caresses and walks” during his lifetime, observes the owner. He did not want to reveal the value of the five-year concession, which some local media say is around 150 euros. Many renew it after five years, others don’t, thus making room for new arrivals.
“And that’s not a bad thing, because if you don’t prolong it, it means the pain is over.”, believes Luigi Molone, whose son will take over power one day. A tailless ginger cat, rescued by a cemetery owner but not yet baptized, sleeps on plastic grass covering a grave decorated with dog figurines.
Nearby are Michelangelo the Labrador, Mike Tyson the Scottish Terrier and Cindy the Rabbit, whose grave is adorned with two stuffed bunnies. “A beautiful little devil running around, you left us too soon”In 2020, the owners of the cat Jotto, who died at the age of two, wrote on his grave. “Now you can run and climb through the clouds”.
Source: Le Figaro
