The formation of the Addolorata Cemetery

Abstract

By the mid-nineteenth century, it had become clear that the local practice of burials within churches and adjoining grounds was no longer sustainable. Physical space for interment was becoming very limited and advances in public health dictated that more hygienic methods of burial be adopted. Until that point in time most of the burials within local towns and villages were intramural ones within the church and its immediate environs, specifically underneath the nave, aisle, parvis, as well as in sacristies and crypts. Several epidemic outbreaks were in part attributed to these inhumations which were carried under poor sanitary conditions. Advances in the scientific understanding of epidemic outbreaks served as a catalyst towards a concerted effort to ban intramural burials. [Excerpt]