Pizzati Mausoleum

The mausoleum of Captain Salvatore Pizzati was manufactured by Charles Orleans from a design of Orleans’ architect Charles Brune. There is a strong tradition of above ground burial in New Orleans and understandably, there are a number of mausoleum builders who offered their services to New Orleanians. During the Golden Age of the mausoleum (post Civil War to the Great Depression) there was lively competition among mausoleum builders to build the best and try to out do one another. It would appear that the Pizzati mausoleum is a result of that competition and  consequently, is one of the most ornate and eclectic mausoleums in the cemetery.

Among its ornaments the Pizzati monument is embellished with Medieval turrets, Byzantine Columns, curved dentils, a statue of “Memory”, elegantly carved garlands in the frieze area, a blind window, a draped urn and a alpha and omega symbol.

Captain Salvatore Pizzati was an Italian immigrant who made his fortune as an importer of tropical fruit. Perhaps Salvatore’s mausoleum was just the reflection of a whimsical and somewhat eccentric man: the story goes that before he died, Pizzati requested that he be buried with his favorite rocking chair and apparently the chair was placed in a chamber below his crypt.
Photos and text © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=”Metairie Cemetery” street=”5101 Pontchartrain Boulevard” city=”New Orleans” state=”Louisiana” zip=”70124″]