Military shrine of Asiago, Military shrine on Leiten Hill, Asiago, Italy.

The military shrine of Asiago stands on Leiten Hill, a few hundred metres from the town centre. Its square base, 80 metres on each side, is built of locally quarried white marble; two 35-metre staircases lead up to a terrace where a four-faced Roman arch rises 47 metres, with a votive altar at its centre. Below the terrace, perimeter and axial corridors hold the burial niches around an octagonal chapel.

The structure was completed in the 1930s as a deliberate effort to honor the many soldiers who died in the mountain battles of World War I. The architect created a space that acknowledged both sides of the conflict.

The hill is called Leiten, and the memorial is also known as the Sacrario del Leiten. A trilingual plaque with a Star of David at the entrance recalls the soldiers of Jewish origin among the dead. The 12,795 identified Italians lie in individual niches, their names carved in alphabetical order from left to right.

The terrace and crypt are currently closed to visitors for safety and water-infiltration problems, so the arch is seen from the staircase and grounds. The memorial and museum close on Mondays and on holidays such as 1 May, 15 August and 21 September, Asiago's patron saint day. Via degli Eroi, lined with cypress trees, links the site to the town centre a few hundred metres away.

Among the known dead are 12 holders of Italy's Gold Medal of Military Valor, including Colonel Giovanni Antonio Aprosio and Private Roberto Sarfatti. A trilingual plaque with a Star of David at the entrance recalls the soldiers of Jewish origin buried here. The bodies were exhumed from 36 war cemeteries of the plateau.