The ossuary temple of Bassano del Grappa is a large church begun as the town's new cathedral and also turned into a military shrine of the First World War. Work started in September 1908 but stopped when the war broke out; the building stayed unfinished until 1930, when an agreement between the parish and the Ministry of Defence decided to use it also as a shrine, gathering the fallen buried in the cemeteries of the foothills. It was completed by the Treviso architect Pietro Del Fabbro and inaugurated in May 1934; it still depends on the parish, the town council and the Ministry of Defence.
What to see
Outside, the temple is in Venetian Gothic style with touches of Romanesque: it rises on a base of seven steps in white stone from Pove del Grappa and is crowned by an octagonal dome flanked by two bell towers sixty metres high. The façade, twenty-eight metres high, is divided into three parts by two pilasters; above the central door are an image of the Redeemer and a rose window about ten metres across, while the side lunettes show Saint Bassiano, the town's patron, and Blessed Giovanna Maria Bonomo. The interior is a Latin cross, 75 metres long.
More than 5000 soldiers from all over Italy are buried here, all of whom died in field hospitals and all known by name: they fought on Monte Grappa in the last year of the war, and the largest group were the «boys of '99», called to the front at eighteen after the defeat at Caporetto. Also resting here are four officers decorated with the gold medal and Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Count of Salemi.
Visiting
Eighty-seven soldiers who died in the Second World War and civilians killed in the bombing of Bassano have also been moved to the shrine. Opening times should be checked with the parish or the Ministry of Defence.
Our editors' tip
Because it holds only soldiers who died in field hospitals, the temple has no unknown dead: the first name and surname of every soldier buried here are known, and the full list has been published.
