Monumento alle Medaglie d'Oro Sanremesi

In Sanremo, on the Italian coast, the Monumento alle Medaglie d'Oro Sanremesi honours the citizens awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor. Above all it remembers those who lost their lives in the First World War. Picture a winged Victory on a rearing horse, sword in hand, supported by a bronze fasces. That fasces wraps all four sides and ends in a pyramid-like point. The front carries a dedication to the fallen, and the sides name the redeemed cities of Trento, Trieste and Rome. Every year, ceremonies at the monument draw citizens, veterans and local authorities.

The idea dates back to January 1921, when Aldo Ravina's National Association of War Mutilated and Invalids formed a committee. Queen Margherita helped secure bronze at a reduced price from the state railways. A lottery with a Fiat car as the prize brought in more money. The sculptor Vincenzo Pasquali made the original bronze, about six metres tall on a trapezoidal base of four steps. Sanremo's mayor travelled to Rome to invite King Vittorio Emanuele III to the ceremony. The unveiling on 12 November 1923 featured the king, the prince, a military parade, music and a blessing from the bishop.

In the Second World War, metal shortages for weapons sent the bronze Victory to a collection centre. What happened next is a mystery: melted down, some say, or left forgotten in a municipal warehouse. The pedestal stood empty for the decades that followed. A copy returned on 2 June 2018, the day of the Festa della Repubblica. Domenico Sepe made the new bronze from the original model kept in the civic museum. The money came from a donation by Elsa Ausenda and her late husband Renato Carlo. Carlo had served in the Second World War and wanted his fallen comrades honoured.