Everyone planning a trip to Florence has a clear itinerary in their mind that covers the Renaissance splendours of the Tuscan regional capital and coincides with the key locations in the city centre.

What is missing from this list, however, is the English Cemetery: a rare example of an international and ecumenical cemetery that hosts the graves of 1,409 literary figures, artists and merchants of sixteen different nationalities, the final resting place of Elizabeth Barrett Browning among them. A photograph on her tomb seems to have inspired Emily Dickinson’s poem The Soul Selects Her Own Society.

Built in the late 19th century, outside the city walls at the time, the English Cemetery now has the appearance of a singular mound that rises up from Piazzale Donatello, surrounded by the busy traffic of the streets that circle the city. “The Island of the Dead”, as many have nicknamed it (both for its geographic position and the fact that it inspired the painting by that name by Böcklin), is a quietly fascinating place, strewn with beautiful funerary monuments criss-crossed by a network of little paths.

Visitors are welcome year-round. Just ring the bell at the entrance and the custodian, a very kindly nun, will let you in. We suggest visiting in May, when the grey of the statues is overtaken by the violet hue of the irises that were planted here in 2017 by a Roma family in thanks for the Italian lessons they were given by the nun.