Right here lies Mussolini’s beloved pet hen

ROME: Rome is legendary the world over as the ultimate resting place of emperors, popes, martyrs and kings from Augustus to St Peter – however few learn about Mussolini’s pet hen.

The hen is buried in Italy’s oldest pet cemetery, which this yr marks 100 years of laying to relaxation much-missed cats, canines and different four-legged companions in an atypical graveyard within the southwest of the capital.

Over the a long time, greater than 1,000 pets have been buried at Casa Rosa, the place brightly painted wood shrines adorned with stuffed animals and collectible figurines share the house with traditional headstones beneath the shade of pines and palms.

Many boast pedigree homeowners, together with “La Dolce Vita” director Federico Fellini, Oscar-winning actress Anna Magnani and Brigitte Bardot, whose poodle died whereas the French intercourse image was taking pictures a film in Rome.

However probably the most well-known was late Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

“All of it actually began with the hen of Mussolini,” Luigi Molon, the cemetery’s proprietor, 73, instructed AFP. “Not having the land to bury her… he introduced her right here, the place Mussolini’s youngsters would include flowers to recollect the pleased occasions they spent collectively.”

The youngsters’s playmate got here to the Mussolini household as a chick after being received at a good, and was buried within the plot of land owned by Molon’s father, the trusted veterinarian for the nice danes of “Il Duce”.

Empty home

No indicators of the hen stay and Molon laughs when requested the place precisely she is buried – he doesn’t know.

However the interment of the near-famous fowl impressed others, and earlier than lengthy the elder Molon’s yard grew to become a pet cemetery, since licensed by Rome’s public authorities.

Right this moment, the overwhelming majority of pets at Casa Rosa have extra modest lineage, from Carlitos the Shih Tzu to Lord Byron the Irish setter, however they’re no much less beloved.

“The home is empty and unhappy with out you,” reads the inscription on the granite tombstone of Ringo, a German Shepherd who died in 1979.

“I really like you,” reads that of Ruga the turtle, who died in 2017.

Lots of the graves embrace images of the deceased: Billo the black-and-white spaniel is proven within the arms of his adoring household, whereas a pet picture of Jack the shepherd is positioned subsequent to at least one exhibiting him as a grey-in-the-muzzle hound.

Horses, rabbits, monkeys, a hamster, turtles, geese, pigeons, parrots, a sparrow, and even a lioness named Greta are beneath the earth right here.

Among the bereaved go to their former companions each different day or week. The ritual of visiting and bringing flowers or stuffed animals “is nothing greater than the continuation of brushing him or taking him for a stroll”, Molon stated, his yippy white terrier Jenny at his facet.

He wouldn’t say how a lot it prices for a five-year plot, though experiences recommend round 150 euros (RM683) a yr. Many renew their plot however some don’t, opening the house for others to comply with.

“And it’s not a foul factor, as a result of in case you don’t renew, it means the ache has handed,” stated Molon, whose son will take over the personal cemetery sooner or later.

A tailless ginger cat – who Molon rescued however has but to call – snoozes on pretend inexperienced grass atop an unmarked grave adorned with canine collectible figurines.

Close by rests Michelangelo, the yellow labrador; Mike Tyson the Scotty; and Cindy the rabbit, two stuffed bunny toys positioned over her grave.

“A candy little pest who ran in all places, you left us too quickly,” reads the inscription for Giotto the tabby, who died in 2020 at age two.

“Now you possibly can run and climb among the many clouds.”