Ossario di San Martino, Desenzano del Garda, Italy

The Ossario di San Martino is a small chapel that houses over 1,200 skulls and over 2,000 bones that belonged to fallen soldiers who fought in a key 19th-century European conflict.

In 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence, there was a great battle here, more commonly called the Battle of Solferino. It was fought out between Austrian and the Piedmontese army. Solferino was the largest battle since that at Leipzig in 1813. As a result of their defeat, the Austrians lost their grip on the region.

Originally built as a chapel, the Ossario di San Martino was later converted into an ossuary, which was opened in 1870. Thousands of bones and skulls from soldiers from both sides, exhumed from the mass graves in which they were buried, rest in a display behind the altar. The exterior walls contain plaques commemorating the fighters from different cities and regions who took part in the war.

User Reviews

Niloufar Aminian (10 months ago)
These are real skulls and bones of soldiers who died in the bloody battle of San Martino in 1859. I liked that they used them for decorating this monument and not letting them to be wasted under the ground. (Austrian Vs Sardinian army)

harley Sipes (3 years ago)
Amazing views from the top of the tower and the Ossuary has a wonderfully creepy old world charm.

Martin Riedl Heggvoll (3 years ago)
Beautiful and interesting place. Wish the gates to go around and downstairs had been open, would've been interesting to see it even more up close.

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A collection of landscapes by 19th century artists Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Barthélemy Menn and others are on display in the castle.

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