Chicken Benito Mussolini, star of a Roman animal cemetery [VIDEO]

From Augustus to Saint Peter, Rome it is known for being the final resting place of emperors, popes, martyrs and kings, but to a lesser extent for Benito Mussolini’s chicken tomb.

The oldest pet cemetery in Italywhich celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is home to dogs and cats, as well as a host of other animals southwest of the Italian capital.

Over the years, thousands of animals have been buried in the so-called “Casa Rosa” (“Pink House”), in tombs adorned with small wooden altars, many brightly painted and stuffed animals next to more traditional tombstones in the shade of pine trees. and palm trees.

Many of these pets belonged to famous people, including the film director Federico FelliniOscar-winning actress Anna Magnani and even to Brigitte Bardotwhose poodle died while filming in the Eternal City.

Among the most curious graves is that of the dictator Benito Mussolini, the favorite of the children, who ruled Italy with an iron fist from 1922 to 1943.

“It actually started with Mussolini’s chicken,” he said. AFP Luigi Molon, 73, cemetery owner and son of the dictator’s trusted veterinarian.

“Since he had nowhere to bury her (…), he brought her here, where his children came with flowers, to remember the happy times spent together,” he said.

Produced at the fair, she became the children’s favorite friend since she was a chick, and after her death she was buried on the land that belonged to Molon’s father.

Although there is no trace of the chicken’s grave, the land has turned over the years into a place of eternal rest for the animals.

Some graves have big names, for example, Lord Byron, the Irish Setter, others with affectionate phrases remind of love for these animals.

“Dear Little Devil”

“The house is empty and sad without you,” reads the grave of Ringo, a German shepherd who died in 1979. Ruga the turtle, who died in 2017, has a simple “I love you” on the grave.

Many of the graves are adorned with photographs of the deceased: Billo, a black and white spaniel, is surrounded by his family, and Jack, the shepherd, is remembered from photographs as a puppy and then as an adult.

The cemetery is a kind of Noah’s Ark, as horses, rabbits, monkeys, turtles, ducks, doves, parrots and even a lioness live in it.

According to Molon, some owners visit their faithful missing companion every day, others every week.

The ceremony, which includes placing flowers or stuffed animals on the grave, “is nothing more than a continuation of the caresses and walks” performed in life, he says.

The cost of the grave, provided for five years, according to some local media, is about 150 euros (almost the same in dollars).

Meanwhile, a ginger cat without a tail, rescued by Molon, naps on a grave adorned with dog figurines.

Michelangelo’s Labrador, Mike Tyson the Scottish Terrier and Cindy the Rabbit, whose grave is adorned with two stuffed rabbits, are nearby.

“You were a cute little devil, you ran everywhere, you left us too soon,” the owners of the cat Giotto, who died in 2020 at the age of two, wrote on the grave.

“Now you can jump and climb the clouds,” the post reads. (AFP)