"The colossal, maze-like Poggioreale, open since 1837 and among the largest cemeteries in Europe, is spread across a hilltop overlooking Naples. It is the burial place of a long list of illustrious Neapolitans, but in recent decades has fallen into severe disrepair owing to a combination of poor management and the ruinous repercussions of organised crime.
In scenes akin to a horror film, the cemetery’s problems were thrust under the spotlight last January when two columbariums containing more than 600 burial niches partially collapsed, an event believed to have been triggered by the digging of a tunnel beneath the cemetery as part of the extension of Naples’ metro network."