“Queste reliquie a noi ispirino ed ai nostri nipoti concordia e carità di patria”

IMG_Custoza

Custoza, part of the municipality of Sommacampagna (Verona), is located over the last hills of the Garda moraine deposit, near the Tione river and not far from the plain and the area crossed by the Via Postumia, an ancient road that connected the two most important Roman ports of Northern Italy, Genoa and Aquileia.

The Via Postumia, was built by the consul Postumio Albino in 148 B.C, for military purposes. It crossed  Adige river with a bridge edified near Verona, the only structure that allowed the overcoming of the river in that historical period.

The name “Custoza” became popular because is linked to the two great battles that were fought for the unification of Italy: the first, in 1848, is called First Independence War, and the second, in 1866, is named Third Independence War.

In both cases,  the troops of Austrian army, led by general Joseph Radetzky in 1848 and by the Archduke Albert of Austria in 1866, defetead the Piedmontese army first and then the Italian army.

In memory of these two war, a monumental ossuary was erected in Custoza.The structure houses the remains of the soldiers who died during the battles.