War memorial in Como, War memorial from 1933 in Como, Italy
The Monument to the Fallen of Como is a 30-metre tower clad entirely in Aurisina and Reppen stone, standing in the public gardens on the lake shore beside the Tempio Voltiano. Two vertical pillars flank a central shaft pierced by two stacked rectangular openings, with three thin flagpoles on top and an inscription carved below the voids. A dark metal grille at the base is reached by a wide flight of steps.
The memorial grew from a 1914 pencil-and-watercolour sketch by Futurist Antonio Sant'Elia, a Como native killed in the First World War. A winning competition design by Asnago, Vender and the Rigola brothers was rejected; Marinetti intervened in 1930, and Enrico Prampolini turned Sant'Elia's drawing into architecture. Giuseppe Terragni completed the work, finished in 1933 and inaugurated on 4 November.
The polished stone displays the names of 650 fallen soldiers alongside an inscription from Antonio Sant'Elia reflecting on those who rest in Trieste or paradise. Walking through the interior, visitors encounter a personal testimony to loss and collective remembrance.
The memorial stands in the public gardens on the lakefront, beside the Tempio Voltiano and near the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, so it can be reached on foot along Lake Como. A wide flight of steps leads up to the dark metal grille at the base; inside, a circular staircase descends to the lower floor with the altar.
The monolith inside weighs 40 tonnes, not 400: a block of Alzo granite clad in Anzola diorite, engraved with the names of the 650 Como men who died in the First World War. It sits above the base, and a circular staircase leads down to a lower room, turned 90 degrees, holding an altar where the sacrarium once was.
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