La Casa Rosa, which celebrates its hundredth anniversary this year, welcomes all types of pets.
From Augustus to St. Peter, Rome is famous for being the final resting place of emperors, popes, martyrs and kings. A city whose attractions are no longer presented, as they seem so well known. However, the Italian capital is full of secrets, one of which is atypical. It houses the burial… of Mussolini’s hen. This special grave is in the oldest animal cemetery in Italy, which celebrates its hundredth anniversary this year. The place welcomes dogs and cats as well as a slew of other faithful companions in the south-west of the Italian capital. Over the years, a thousand animals have been buried at the ‘Casa Rosa’ (‘the pink house’, in French), where small, brightly painted wooden altars decorated with stuffed animals and figurines sit alongside more traditional tombstones shaded by pine and palm trees.
Many boarders have famous owners, such as the director of The good life Federico Fellini, Oscar-winning actress Anna Magnani and even Brigitte Bardot, whose poodle died while filming in the Eternal City. But the most famous is undoubtedly the dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy with an iron fist from 1922 to 1943.
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A hen won at a fair
“It all really started with Mussolini’s chicken”says Luigi Molon, 73, owner of the cemetery. “Not having the land to bury her (…) he brought her here, where her children came with flowers to remember the happy times spent together”. Their playmate, who arrived home after being won at a fair, was buried on a plot of land owned by Luigi Molon’s father, who was the Duce’s trusted vet.
Traces of the hen have been lost over the years but it has been emulated, transforming a land that until then was anonymous into an eternal resting place for animals. Today, the cemetery is more plebeian, even if some of the deceased have high-sounding names, like Lord Byron, an Irish setter.
“The house is empty and sad without you”, reads on the granite grave of Ringo, a German shepherd who died in 1979. On the grave of Ruga the turtle, who died in 2017, a simple “I love you”. Many graves are adorned with photos of the deceased: Billo the black and white spaniel is surrounded by his beloved family, while Jack the shepherd is shown as a puppy and then as an adult.
Place of meditation for pet owners
Like its counterpart in Asnières-sur-Seine, near Paris, the cemetery is a veritable Noah’s ark welcoming horses, rabbits, donkeys, hamsters, turtles, ducks, pigeons, parrots and even a lioness. Some grieving owners visit their missing companion every day, others every week, reports Luigi Molon.
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The ritual of visits and the laying of flowers or soft toys on the grave of the deceased animal “is nothing less than an extension of caresses and walks” during his lifetime, observes the owner. He is reluctant to divulge the cost of a five-year concession, which some local media say is around 150 euros. Many renew it after five years, others do not, thus making room for new arrivals.
“And that’s not a bad thing, because if you don’t renew, that means the pain is over”, believes Luigi Molon, whose son will one day take over. A ginger cat without a tail, rescued by the cemetery owner but not yet christened, takes a nap on the plastic grass covering a grave decorated with dog figurines.
Nearby lie Michelangelo the Labrador, Mike Tyson the Scottish terrier and Cindy the rabbit, whose grave is decorated with two stuffed rabbits. “A nice little devil running around, you left us too soon”wrote the owners of Giotto the cat, who died in 2020 at two years old, on his grave. “Now you can run and climb among the clouds”.
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