New member ,but have read this form form months.Thank for the information has been inciteful.I just came back from Italy. Went to Venice. Pisa,And Rome.What engaging and delightful people,and the beauty can only be justified by Michealanglo.I was the frist in my family to go back to Italy in 100 years!My grandparents left Italy in 1913. They lived in Orzignano,San Guilano Terme area, near Pisa.I went to the Cemetery there,to find my great grandperents grave, but no luck. to my surprise most of the people buried there was after 1960.Need to do more research I guess.My other great grandperents are buried in Patrignone a few miles away.I am planning to come back in 2 years with my family . By then I hope to improve on my broken Italian ,lol

Ciao vino_rosso! Benvenuto. Do you have any photos of your trip you can share? We love to see those. We are happy that you decided to join.

Bevenuto Vino_Rosso. Glad you like the forum.

What is the custom in the cementaries in Italy? For example
in Argentina the country most like Italy you really never
own a cementary plot. It seems you rent the plot. Eventually
they dig up the body and cremate it, creo. Then somebody else rents
the plot and they bury somebody else. Sera cosi in Italy?
Was talking about this with somebody from Argentina awhile ago.
It's ironic because the Catholic church is against cremation
but they eventually cremate the bodies anyway. Non capisco niente!

Ciao vino_rosso - welcome

I'm not surprised you couldn't find the graves - after 10 years, generally the remains are disenterred and placed in "loculi" (in the case of where I am, these are basically holes in a wall with a mini-tombstone in front). It saves space in the ground so that the cementries don't have to expand ad infinitum.

Ah-Ha! This is what I'm talking about!
E pazzo or is it after all just being practical.
When you run out of room then what can you do?

Markymark : Are you sure is 10 years ? In Rome I am sure is 30 years at the Verano cemetery and it is one of the busiest in Italy. In any case the 1960s are 40+ years away.

It is 10 years here, as we have been told that Nonno will be moved this year (he died in 1998). That said, the cemetery is very small, even considering the size of Castiglioncello, so maybe it's the lack of space that shortens the time here.