One of the most important examples of the neoromanesque style in Italy, the Tempio commemorates over seven thousand Modenese casualties of World War I.
Built by Lucillo Gasparini’s construction firm and projected by Domenico Barbanti after the will of the Bishop Natale Bruni, the Tempio was inaugurated by King Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy in 1929.
Unmistakable, and visible from a great distance, are five lofty domes. Notable is the doorway with the writing in Latin «Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori» («To die in the name of your country is sweet and proper»); the stained-glass windows with Saints; the holy-water stoup from Monte Grappa (a battle fought by the Italians and never to be forgotten); Bishop Bruni’s tomb by Giuseppe Graziosi and the moving crypt where the names of the fallen are written in dark marble.
Officially, the Tempio is dedicated to Saint Joseph. In front of it, a monument commemorating the dead of the ‘Foibe’ (Italians murdered by Yugoslav partisans after World War II).
