Italian World War One Shrine

by Stuart Litoff

Title

Italian World War One Shrine

Artist

Stuart Litoff

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Near the Slovenian border and within the Italian town of Gorizia, is the shrine of Oslavia, a memorial dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the First World War. This castle-like ossuary contains the remains of 57,200 Italian soldiers, 36,440 of them unknown. Many were casualties of the 12th Battle of the Isonzo, also known as Caporetto. The shrine also contains the bones of 539 Austro-Hungarian troops.

Completed in 1938, the shrine consists of a fortress-like circular tower above a flight of steps, with three lower circular bastions flanking it on either side and behind, and connected by underground passages. The names of the identified dead line the walls of the four internal circular chambers. A tall black marble cross is in the middle of the central tower. Below in the crypt is the tomb of General Achille Papa (killed on the Bainsizza on 5th October 1917) and of twelve other holders of the Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Militare.

Uploaded

June 11th, 2017

Statistics

Viewed 1,799 Times  -  Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/18/2024 at 11:32 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags