Tempio Ossario dei Caduti d'Italia, Memorial church in Udine, Italy
The Tempio Ossario dei Caduti d'Italia is a church in Udine built in 1931 to designs by Alessandro Limongelli and Provino Valle, with a copper dome made by the Officine Martini. Its interior has three naves divided by red granite pillars, and four statues stand against the facade: an infantryman, an aviator, an Alpino and a navy soldier.
Built in 1931, the church holds the remains of around 25,000 Italian soldiers who died in World War I between the Isonzo and Tagliamento rivers. It was created in response to the enormous losses this region experienced during the war.
The names of 25,000 Italian soldiers exhumed from Friuli war cemeteries are carved on the walls of the crypt and of the chapels above it. Among those buried here are Riccardo Giusto, the first Italian soldier to fall in World War I, and Sisto Frajria, decorated with three silver and two bronze medals for military valour.
The church faces Piazzale XXVI Luglio, named for 26 July 1866, the date Italian troops entered Udine; the square's centre holds the 1969 monument to the Resistance by Gino Valle and Federico Marconi, with a sculpture group by Dino Basaldella. The four statues of a foot soldier, aviator, Alpino and sailor stand against the facade.
The building houses Italy's largest crypt with two collective tombs for about 5,600 unidentified soldiers and niches for named military personnel. This makes it one of the country's most significant repositories for war casualties.
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