Rome tomb goes for 'crazy' price
Neoclassical plot at Verano fetches 900,000 euros
16 February, 18:02
(ANSA) - Rome, February 16 - A neoclassical tomb in Rome's
monumental Verano cemetery fetched the price of a super luxury
apartment in the city's first online auction of otherworldly
assets.
The tomb, described as "classical style with decorative
elements in white travertine and Carrara marble, able to house
ten," drew a flood of buyers to the www.amaroma.it site,
boosting its value from an asking price of 150,000 euros
($206,000) to a winning bid of 940,000 euros ($1.3 million)."It's a crazy price, you could get prime real estate in the real world for that," said a delighted head of the Rome graveyard body Ama, Vittorio Borghini.
The successful bidder, who was not identified, can look forward to rubbing shoulders with literary luminaries like Alberto Moravia, Eduardo De Filippo, Grazia Deledda and Giuseppe Ungaretti; cinema legends Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti and Isa Miranda; composer Pietro Mascagni; and American philosopher George Santayana, famous for saying: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno hoped to raise some 2.5 million euros from the sell-off of 34 plots at Verano and two other historical graveyards, but the final take was 3.8 million.
The scheme has been such a hit that a repeat will be staged over the next six months, with 20 Verano tombs and ten others at Flaminio and Maccarese on offer.
The tombs were empty, no longer used, or belonged to people Ama was unable to trace.
Bidders were able to view their desired resting places on Google Earth.
"Most of the money will be going to the upkeep of Ama properties but some of the leftovers will be used on other municipal assets," Alemanno said.
Unlike most Italian graves, which have a relatively short sell-by date, the newly available tombs have a 75-year lease.
photo: file photo of Verano when auction began last June
