Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Councilor Romani: "Provision was born from the desire to respond to the desire of many people who ask for welcoming places without religious connotations where they can gather and say goodbye to their loved one"

Milan, February 11 2022 – The Council has approved the guidelines to identify and make available to citizens, within the nine municipalities of the city, free spaces to be allocated to civil functions for the farewell of the deceased.

Currently, in compliance with regional law number 33 of 2009, the Municipality of Milan provides three public spaces to allow condolences and final farewells to one's deceased loved one: one inside the Lambrate cemetery, adjacent to the crematorium, and two others inside the cemeteries of Bruzzano and Monumentale.

With this resolution we intend to respond to the need of all those who wish to carry out a civil farewell ceremony in a city context without religious connotations.

Together with the guidelines, the provision also provides a series of requirements on the basis of which the suitability of the aforementioned spaces is assessed, for example the existence of a manoeuvre, stop and rest area for the hearse, a number limited number of steps and differences in height, a cooling system for the summer months.

Alongside the intention of identifying alternative places to those already existing in cemeteries, there is also the objective of satisfying the needs of citizens according to a logic of decentralization, allowing them to have free, pleasant and equipped rooms available within their own Town Hall and not far from their community, to gather around the memory of the missing person.

"This resolution arises from the desire – explains the councilor for civic and general services Gaia Romani – to interpret and respond to a desire of many citizens, namely that of having welcoming places available in which to commemorate a loved one who is not there more, also sharing moments of serenity, without necessarily having to breathe a sad atmosphere, as unfortunately the proximity to a cemetery conveys. Today our city sets up funeral chapels for illustrious people, but the possibility for an ordinary citizen of choose a place for a secular funeral ceremony. Thanks to the commitment of the municipalities - concludes Romani - Milan will finally be able to recognize an important right for many people, making dignified and free places available for the celebration of secular funerals".

Once the farewell rooms or spaces have been identified, the municipalities undertake, through appropriate communication on the web pages and other channels, to make known access and booking methods for citizens or funeral companies by the delegates themselves, guaranteeing the continuous updating of the information.

"An excellent initiative by the Department of Civic Services which will allow the families of the deceased to commemorate them in dedicated spaces in their neighborhoods, respecting the identity and sense of belonging of the local community - comment the Presidents Giulia Pelucchi and Anita Pirovano who, respectively in municipalities 8 and 9, they have already identified Villa Scheibler and Villa Litta.