Open in 1851, Staglieno developed with great representative intensity since the I World War. It combines the typology of the neo-classical architectural cemetery of Mediterranean tradition which eventually became a "gallery" of monuments with the one of the naturalistic cemetery diffused in northern Europe.
The artistic languages of over a century - from neo-classicism to realism (the latter in one of the most characterised and hyperdescriptive forms to be found all over Europe) to symbolism, Art Nouveau and Deco, and even beyond -

followed one another to give rise to a school of sculptors whose works had a large circulation even beyond regional and national territory. At the same time the monumental aspect of the cemetery attracted many renewed Italian artists (Bistolfi, Ximenes, Messina, Canonica, etc.).
Nietzsche, de Maupassant, Twain, Elisabeth of Austria (the famed empress Sissi) are some of the countless visitors - men of history and letters, travellers, artists and philosophers - who got enchanted by Staglieno and left a testimony of their visit.