The Monument to the Thousand is a construction dedicated to the Garibaldians for the landing at Marsala, standing in front of the city's seafront, a few steps from the port where Garibaldi landed, in piazza Piemonte e Lombardo, named after the general's two ships.
What to see
Today the monument serves as a tourist info point, run by the local Pro Loco, and hosts conferences in the conference room on the right side of the work; inside, on the left side, are photographs and relics of the Garibaldians from the Garibaldian museum, in the rooms of the Convento di San Pietro. Completed in 2016, not without many criticisms, it was inaugurated on 11 May of that year.
The first idea of a monument to celebrate the landing of the Thousand dates from 9 June 1860, when the civic council launched the proposal, postponed for lack of resources; similar initiatives in 1893 and for the fiftieth anniversary in 1910 had no success. For the first centenary a law of 1960 allocated ninety million lire and the competition was won in 1961 by the architect Emanuele Mongiovì, with Sergio Musmeci in second place. Mongiovì had imagined a majestic work, 70 metres long and 26 wide, with the two ships Piemonte and Lombardo joined together, a mainmast 47 metres high, sails with marble drapery forming the number one thousand and on the prow a 5-metre statue of Garibaldi; but the remaining funds were not found. The project was taken up again in 1984, the foundation stone was laid in June 1986 in the presence of the prime minister Bettino Craxi, and on 11 May 1989 the Genio civile of Trapani declared the work unauthorised, only the base having been built. In 2007 the last ideas competition was won by the Catania architect Ottavio Abramo with the project «Mille luci», with no more sails.
Visiting
The monument is opposite the seafront, in piazza Piemonte e Lombardo, in Marsala. It is a tourist info point run by the Pro Loco: days and hours should be checked.
Our editors' tip
Look on the base for the two walls with the name, surname and year of birth of all 1089 Garibaldians who landed at Marsala.
