Boves, Italy
L'Italia entry into the First World War claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the peninsula. Liguria, with its coastal towns and mountain villages, contributed heavily to the war effort, sending sons from every valley to the Alpine front. Monuments to the fallen, often called monumenti ai ca
duti, are found in nearly every Italian comune. They typically take the form of stone obelisks, simple plaques on town hall facades, or sculptural groups placed in the main square. Their purpose is both memorial and civic identity: they anchor the community's memory of sacrifice in physical form. What makes these structures particularly Ligurian is how they reflect the region's character. Stone — pietra serena or local granite — is the material of choice. Many were designed by local artisans rather than nationally famous sculptors. In small inland towns like Cerattese, the monument often becomes part of daily life: children pass it on the way to school, residents pause before it on November 4th, the date of Italian Armed Forces Day. For the visitor, encountering such a monument means stepping into the living memory of a place. These memorials are not museum pieces; they are active sites of remembrance, tended by families, visited by schools, and sometimes updated with new names as research uncovers additional casualties. The emotional impact comes not from architectural grandeur but from the weight of absence they carry. Each name carved into stone represents a life interrupted, a
Listen to the audio guide for Ai Cerattesi caduti in guerra 1915-1918 Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off