Mausoleum of Cesare Battisti

Between the 19th and 20th century Cesare Battisti was an influential personality in the political life of Trentino. At the time, this area was still part of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. Cesare Battisti was tried for high treason and was put to death in 1916. As he had been an important protagonist of Italian irredentism, he was celebrated as a national hero and between 1920 and 1930 a mausoleum in his honour was commissioned and realised based on a project of Veronese architect Ettore Fagiuoli. In 1935 it was inaugurated in the presence of King Victor III.

The influence of the classical world in the monument itself and in its circular floorplan is undeniable. The mausoleum is composed of sixteen 14-metres-high columns, each of them topped by a marble crown. On the external part of the building there are four cannons and a total of three entrances. The so-called hypogeum inside the building hosts the remains of the Trentino irredentist, as well as a bust which was realised by the sculptor Eraldo Fozzer. Thanks to an interesting exhibition accomplished by the Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino, it is possible to retrace the most salient events of Cesare Battisti's life.