The Poggioreale cemeterial complex experienced a
gradual development since
the second half of the XVIII century and now covers approximately fifty hectares
of the hill by the same name.
The component that marks
the beginning of the
graveyard infrastructural
pattern at Poggioreale is
the Cimitero di Santa Maria
del Popolo, also known as
"of the 366 graves", designed
by Ferdinando Fuga, and
built in 1762.
The monument is of extraordinary relevance,
as the only known example
of cemeterial "Enlightenment building".

Another basic element of
the cemeterial complex is
the Santa Maria del Pianto graveyard, with the church
by the same name, a
XVII century central-plan building, around which,
as early as the plague of
1656, corpses were interred.
The Cimitero monumentale
is the largest (162,873 sqm), most effective and most imposing plot.
It opened in 1838, after
several interruptions and
some rethinking.
The original plan (1825)
was designed by Francesco Maresca; after his death,
Luigi Malesci, Bridge-and-Road engineer, and Ciro Cuciniello, architect for the Royal House, took over.