Sacrario militare dei Caduti Oltremare, Military cemetery and museum in Bari, Italy.
The Sacrario militare dei Caduti Oltremare is a memorial complex in Bari's Japigia district, built of Trani stone on two levels: a ground floor with a war museum and crypt, and a raised cloister holding the tombs. A 25-metre column topped by four crosses stands behind the central marble altar, and the entrance to the sacred zone is marked by chains and the anchor of the ship Orsa.
Commissioned by Italy's Ministry of Defence and designed by engineer-colonel Paolo Caccia Dominioni, the memorial opened on 10 December 1967 in Bari's Japigia district. Its 75,098 burials were brought home as foreign war cemeteries were closed; 40,372 of the dead are unknown. Remains from German Democratic Republic prison and labour camps were later added, and the Tripoli memorial's burials, including 140 Eritrean and Libyan Askari, arrived in 1972.
The memorial is divided into ten sectors representing different war theaters from the Balkans to East Africa, documenting Italian military presence across multiple regions. Each sector holds the memory of soldiers who lost their lives in different conflicts and distant places.
The memorial stands in via Giovanni Gentile in the Japigia district, on two levels reached by a wide central staircase. The ground floor holds the crypt, the historical museum and a 72-seat projection room; the raised level holds the cloister with the tombs and the 25-metre column with four crosses. The bell to the right of the staircase tolls nine times at sunset.
The site preserves the remains of 192 recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor, Italy's highest decoration for soldiers. Additionally, it holds 140 Eritrean and Libyan Askari soldiers, African troops who served alongside Italian forces in these distant campaigns.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,974 contributors worldwide.