Ossario Santa Maria della Neve

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ossario next to the church of Santa Maria della Neve

The Ossario Santa Maria della Neve is in Mezzano, a small fraction of the municipality of San Giuliano Milanese in Italy. This is where the remains of fallen Swiss who perished in September 1515 during the battle of Marignano are kept .

location

The ossuary is located near the battlefield in the hamlet of Mezzano next to the church "Santa Maria della Neve" on the road between the towns northwest of Melegnano , the former Marignano.

building

View from the Campo dei morti from

The facade, set back under a canopy behind two columns, shows a fresco of Our Lady with the baby Jesus. On a board the same text is written on the left in Italian and on the right in Latin: « Here rest the bones of the Swiss who fought with great bravery and whom Francis I , King of France, defeated with the help of the Venetians. In the year of the Lord 1515. »

Underneath, a window gives a glimpse into the interior, in which the bones of the fallen lie behind glass in an altar. To the right of it is a Swiss flag. The altarpiece shows a pietà .

history

The ossuary was built at the beginning of the 18th century. It is not known who had it built. In 2010 the “Fondazione Pro Marignano” acquired it thanks to the support of a Swiss sponsor. In 2012, a lurching truck tore down the two pillars, causing the front structure to collapse. In 2014 the building was restored for 150,000 francs. The bones are said to have been dug up by locals from the fields in the area and collected in the ossuary. However, since the ossuary was only built two centuries after the battle, there is no definite clarity about the origin of the bones. The deep injuries that can be seen on most of the skulls, presumably caused by massive violence from cutting or stabbing weapons, seem to confirm the authenticity of the bones.

  • inscription

  • Altar with bones of the fallen

  • Skull with traces of violence

Commemorations

Monument of Josef Bisa in Zivido

In 1965, when Marignano celebrated its 450th anniversary, a group of conservative politicians, military officials and entrepreneurs traveled to Marignano, including former Federal Councilor Philipp Etter with his “Pro Marignano” committee and the young Christoph Blocher . At that time, the large granite tablet by the Swiss sculptor Josef Bisa was unveiled, which commemorates the defeat. It stands next to the church “Santa Maria della Natività” in Zivido, a suburb of San Giuliano Milanese , where the center of the battlefield was.

Since the ossuary has practically no property of its own, the foundation would like to buy some additional land. This should make the building more effective, it could be better protected from moisture and it would be possible to set up an information corner.

For the 500th anniversary of the battle, Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga traveled to Mezzano on September 13, where a memorial service was held opposite the ossuary on the "Campo dei Morti".

Web links

Commons : Ossario Santa Maria della Neve  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : War memorial Zivido Battle of Marignano  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The peace of the dead of fallen confederates disturbed ( Memento from September 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Restoration report (it.)
  3. ↑ Swissinfo
  4. ↑ Marignano.ch
  5. ↑ NZZ of September 13, 2015


Coordinates: 45 ° 22 ′ 8 ″  N , 9 ° 18 ′ 2.2 ″  E