Medicina, July 16, 2026 – A story that seems like it came out of a novel, but is actually all true, complete with official documents. The protagonists of this cemetery misadventure are Niccolò Rocco di Torrepadula and his wife Luigia Bulgarelli. A surname that does not go unnoticed since Mrs. Luigia is the sister of Giacomo Bulgarelli, the famous and late captain of the 1964 rossoblù championship team.
It all starts with a document dated February 5, 1933. On that day, the then mayor of the Municipality of Medicina granted Giacomo Bulgarelli, namesake grandfather of Giacomino, brother of Mrs. Luigia, the perpetual use of a family tomb in the city cemetery. The agreed fee was 550 lire, a sum far from symbolic for the time, paid to guarantee eternal rest for loved ones. Inside the niche, the son Asso, who died very young, was buried. From then on, as often happens in cemeteries, silence fell. Until 2023, when an email broke the quiet. It was sent by Area Blu, the company managing cemetery services. The company sent a communication to the family asking for permission to bury another person in that very tomb. “We were taken by surprise – recounts Niccolò Rocco di Torrepadula –. We didn’t even know that the 1930s concession still existed and was valid.”
The family’s response was, inevitably, a categorical no. And it was from that refusal that investigations began, leading to another discovery. According to Rocco di Torrepadula, it emerged that the tomb, over the decades, had become a sort of “informal storage.” Inside, a coffin and the urn of another person were found, without anyone ever informing the rightful heirs. “It seems that over these ninety years more than one person has passed through – explains Rocco di Torrepadula –. Maybe some gravedigger, over time, not finding space elsewhere, thought: ‘It’s empty anyway.’”
The family turns to the Administrative Court
The family decided to turn to the Administrative Court and meanwhile years passed. Under the threat of the imminent deposit of the sentence, Area Blu intervened and freed the tomb, moving the unknown coffin and urn elsewhere. “Where they put them now I don’t know, and I don’t care – says Niccolò Rocco di Torrepadula –. The goal was solely to have the tomb free for our use again, as per the original concession.”
Meanwhile, the municipal administration intervened in the matter, which, together with Area Blu, carried out the necessary research to recover documents and archive records.
Montanari: “This is a cemetery concession issued more than 90 years ago”
It is the mayor of Medicina, Matteo Montanari, who outlines the contours of the resolution with conciliatory tones: “We are talking about a matter concerning a cemetery concession issued over 90 years ago. The Municipality and Area Blu, the cemetery services manager, conducted archival research and delved into the specific case, which turned out to be really complex and unusual. I am glad that a solution was reached that protected both families involved.”
For the Bulgarelli-Rocco di Torrepadula family, it is a victory, but with a bitter taste. The request for reimbursement of legal expenses was in fact rejected: “Between the lawyer’s fees, stamps, and archival research – including the recovery of the wife’s birth certificate and the original 1933 mayoral decree – the family ended up spending between 5,000 and 6,000 euros.”
