Ossuary of Timau

The Timau Ossuary was conceived in 1936 at the initiative of the priest of the time, Don Tita Bulfon, who decided to convert the Sanctuary of the Most Holy Crucifix, an ancient religious building dating back to the thirteenth century, into a place for gathering the remains of the fallen already buried in the small war cemeteries of the But Valley and intended to be transferred to the Ossuary Temple of Udine. The project was entrusted to Giovanni Greppi and Giannino Castiglioni, already engaged in the construction of the shrines of Redipuglia, Caporetto and Monte Grappa.

Work began the following year and the ossuary was officially inaugurated shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, in May 1939. The structure takes up the earlier church, surrounded on three sides by a single grand classical-style portico that houses the remains of numerous soldiers: 1,763 fallen, including 298 unidentified Italians and 65 Austro-Hungarians, coming from mountain cemeteries and from the military cemetery of Timau.

At the centre of the main façade stands out a mosaic depicting two angels adoring Christ on the Cross, made from a design by Fred Pittino in 1954. Above it towers the distinctive bell gable with three bells arranged in a pyramid and surmounted by three crosses.

Inside, the central altar is dominated by “The Crucified Infantryman”, a bronze sculpture by Giannino Castiglioni. On the left is the fountain of the “miraculous water”, while on the right is the shrine of Maria Plozner Mentil. Particularly significant are the painted composition by Marino Sopracasa, eight panels inspired by the Friulian song “Stelutis alpinis”, and the “Madonna of the Snow”, painted in 1916 by the Venetian artist Fragiacomo to adorn the chapel of Pal Grande. On the side walls visitors can admire allegories of weapons and military corps, what remains of the entire painted cycle by Vanni Rossi.