Parco della Rimembranza

Parco della Rimembranza occupies the site of Gorizia's former cemetery near Corso Italia. Laid out in 1923, it brings together memorials to the First World War, deportations and the city's later history.

Why it matters

Architect Enrico Del Debbio won the design competition to turn the disused cemetery into a public garden commemorating those who died in the First World War and Gorizians who left the Habsburg army for the Italian one. Later memorials added further layers of remembrance. The park's central position places this history within Gorizia's civic landscape.

What to notice

Busts commemorate Giovanni Maniacco, Emilio Cravos and Vittorio Locchi, author of the poem “La sagra di Santa Gorizia.” Sculptures honour the Alpine Brigade Julia and the Lupi di Toscana infantry brigade. At the centre are remains of a circular memorial temple designed by Del Debbio, built as a monumental chapel in 1929 and destroyed in an attack in August 1944. A wall commemorates 665 Gorizians deported in May 1945 during the Yugoslav occupation; another memorial recalls victims of deportations. The temple's friezes and mosaics were made by Gorizian artist Edoardo Del Neri.

Context and history

The grounds served as the city cemetery in the nineteenth century. After the First World War, Del Debbio's 1923 project transformed the closed burial ground into Gorizia's second public park. The chapel marked its centre until its destruction in 1944. Later memorials expanded the park's commemorative programme to include deportations and the brigades associated with the region's wartime history. The park is jointly owned by the Comune and Provincia di Gorizia and covers about 25,000 square metres.