THE MEMORIAL

It stands on the summit of the Grappa massif at an altitude of 1776 m a.s.l., Designed by the architect Giovanni Greppi, it was built in 1935 by the sculptor Giannino Castiglioni. The monument holds the remains of 12,615 victims of war, of which 10,332 are unknown. The central body of the monument consists of five concentric circles, each four meters high and surrounded by a circular ledge ten meters wide. The remains of the identified victims are arranged in alphabetical order and kept in individual niches, covered with bronze plates. Those of the unknown 10,332 are in larger communal urns, which alternate with single tombs. On the top of the monument stands a sacellum, Sanctuary of the Madonnina del Grappa.

From the small piazza by the temple, the Via Eroica, which is made from square blocks of grappa stone leads, in 250 meters, to the Portal of Rome. It winds between two rows of stone blocks on which are carved the names of the places linked to the most famous deeds of the battles of the Grappa. Between the 4th and the 5th circle, in a central position, is the tomb of General Giardino, who, before dying, had expressed his desire to be buried up there among his soldiers. La Madonnina del Grappa, blessed by Cardinal Sarto, then Pope Pius X. It is now worshipped as a place of pilgrimage on the first Sunday of August. The Rome portal, which is located at the end of the Via Eroica, was designed and built by the architect Alessandro Limongelli. Above the Rome portal an observatory has been created from which it is possible to look out over the surrounding panorama and the points of greatest historical interest. In the sector to the north-east of the Portal of Rome, the remains of 10,295 Austro-Hungarian victims have been reunited.