If you’re in Italy in early November, don’t miss a visit to the local cemetery where autumn bouquets add flashes of color to the tombs and often-grandiose stone family mausoleums.
Some relatives bring huge bouquets – often of chrysanthemums…..
…and gently caress the photo of the loved one (under glass, topping the tombstone) before leaving the tomb site…Some visitors might just hold a few flowers in a hand….
…as many people visit multitudinous cemeteries during the early November days, visiting even distant relatives and perhaps just bearing a few flowers for each of the many tombs visited:
On November 1st and 2nd, Assisi Franciscan nuns, too, visited the burial sites of their consorelle (fellow sisters):
One of the nuns – a Poor Clare – also stopped to pay homage at the tomb of Don Aldo Brunacci who had assisted the bishop in hiding safely about 300 Jewish refugees in Assisi (1943-1944):
She also reverently placed the traditional stones on his tomb, adding to the many already placed on the cross with Don Aldo’s photo (others were in stone recipient near his tomb):
Numerous stones had also been placed on Clara Weiss’ tomb. I had visited her tomb that day, remembering how Don Aldo Brunacci had told me about arranging a funeral for this Jewish refugee who died during hiding in World War II:
The Franciscan friars, too, have burial sites in the Assisi cemetery….
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….and bouquets of fresh chrysanthemums indicated recent visits.
Family mausoleums in the Assisi cemetery are constructed in a variety of architectural styles….
The Assisi cemetery in November: architectural wonders highlighted with floral splendor.
Not to miss.
See my short video about the Assisi cemetery in November.
Read about another visit to Don Aldo Brunacci’s tomb
Read more here abour Don Aldo Brunacci, protagonist of the “Assisi Underground”