As evidenced by the existence of an earlier Roman necropolis dedicated to St. Ciriaca, the cemetery ground has been a burial place for at least twenty centuries.

[3] A modern cemetery was not established until the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy during 1807–1812, when the architect Giuseppe Valadier was commissioned for designs after the Edict of Saint-Cloud [fr] required burials to take place outside of the city walls.

The vast burial ground in an open-air museum setting is located on an undulating slope, dotted with majestic tombs in different styles, varying from Neoclassical architecture to Art Nouveau.

[6] Pope Francis celebrated All Saints Day Mass here on a papal visit to the cemetery on 1 November 2014.

[7] Note that plots are not necessarily perpetual concessions, and if the grant is not renewed, graves are recycled and remains are moved to an ossuary or somewhere else.