Monument to the unknown soldier

The Great War (1915-1918), although won by the Triple Entente, resulted in an enormous massacre. The largest blood tribute in Italy was paid by the infantry, composed of ordinary people who had to leave their families and jobs to go to war, without proper training and with scarce equipment, in a difficult and prolonged trench warfare.

To alleviate the suffering of those who would never see their loved ones again, and to exorcise pain and death together, it was necessary to transform this suffering into an epic of glory. Thus, in the years immediately following the end of the First World War, initiatives multiplied in all cities and towns in Italy to finance and erect monuments to the fallen of the Great War.

A Citizens' Committee was formed for this purpose, but it was mainly thanks to the solidarity of the entire population that, on November 16, 1924, this Monument to the Fallen was inaugurated. It was the work of sculptor Omero Puntelli, active in the Province of Arezzo between 1919 and 1939. Made of white marble, stone, and bronze, the Subbiano monument depicts an infantryman, dressed in standard uniform and a helmet, in the act of throwing a bomb held in his right hand, while tightly clutching the flag with his left hand.

Note the inscriptions on the marble base, which include a series of words dedicated to the boys who fell in battle: "TO THE DEAD FOR THE HOMELAND / THE LAND THAT WAS THEIR MOTHER / PROUD OF THE SUBLIME HOLOCAUST / ON THE ALTAR OF REDEMPTION."

On the right side: "SUBBIANO / TO ITS GLORIOUS SONS"; on the left side, only two dates: "MAY 14, 1915 / NOVEMBER 4, 1918."

The monument was placed where it stands today, in the center of Piazza Garibaldi, where, a few years later, the elementary school and the Palazzeschi Institute building were also constructed, inaugurated on October 28th 1935.