Sacrario militare del Tonale, Military cemetery at Passo del Tonale, Italy
The Sacrario militare del Tonale is a military cemetery and ossuary on Passo del Tonale, a high mountain pass on the border between Lombardy and Trentino. The building has a rectangular body with a semicircular section at the rear, topped by a bronze statue of Victory that stands above the surrounding ridge.
The memorial was built between 1922 and 1924 to honor soldiers who died along this section of the mountain front during the First World War. In 1936 it was turned into an ossuary, and remains from both sides of the conflict were brought together here.
Inside the crypt, marble figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary face visitors as they enter, and bronze portraits of fallen soldiers line the entrance. The space feels personal and quiet, more like a place of mourning than a public monument.
The ossuary stands directly along the pass road and can be reached on foot from the nearby parking areas without any difficult terrain. Road conditions in winter can be unpredictable at this altitude, so checking ahead before traveling is a good idea.
Five soldiers found in the Lobbia Alta glacier in 1964, decades after the war ended, now rest in a dedicated chamber inside the ossuary. The glacier had preserved their remains for so long that they could still be recovered and given a proper burial.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
