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Death in Venice just got cheaper...

The most economical funeral is being offered by undertakers Agenzia Onoranze Funebri Rossi, who will bury a loved one for a fixed price of €1,380.

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With Italy in economic crisis and Italians feeling the pinch of austerity cuts, a bidding war has broken out between funeral operators in the lagoon city of Venice.

They are offering no-frills, low-cost burials in order to drum up business among Venetian families.

The most economical funeral is being offered by undertakers Agenzia Onoranze Funebri Rossi, who will bury a loved one for a fixed price of €1,380. For that price they promise a "respectful and professional" service.

The company has put up dozens of posters around Venice, advertising the new deal. "Why spend more when you can have the same service for less?" the billboards read.

Meanwhile, a Rome-based funeral operator, Onoranze Funebri Lorenzetti, is planning to offer funerals in Venice for the slightly higher price of €1,390 and has already launched the deal in Rome, Bologna, Milan and Turin.

Funeral costs in the city known as "La Serennissima" are among the highest in Italy because of the lack of available land.

Venetians are buried in the city's one cemetery on San Michele, one of 34 islands scattered across the 200 square mile lagoon.

The island, a former Franciscan monastery, even has a special corner dedicated to gondoliers, with their tombs decorated with carvings of the famous watercraft.

It is also the last resting place for some illustrious names, including the American writer Ezra Pound, the composer Igor Stravinsky and his wife, and Joseph Brodsky, the Russian poet.

Just as the cost of refuse collection and supplying shops and businesses is high in Venice because everything has to be transported by boat, so funeral costs are increased by the need to take bodies to San Michele by water.

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