Italian Charnel House

What makes it special

The charnel house is built as three concentric octagons of stone, each tier smaller than the one below, around the Church of St Anthony on the top of Gradič hill. The remains of 7,014 Italian soldiers of the First World War, known and unknown, were moved here from the military cemeteries nearby.

The known dead are named on slabs of green serpentine. In niches on two of the tiers you read each soldier's surname, first name and rank, under the Italian word Presente, meaning present.

The 1,748 soldiers who were never identified lie together in six tombs along the sides of the central stairways, so you pass them on the way up. Benito Mussolini opened the monument in September 1938.

From the top, the view opens over Kobarid and the wide valley around it. Beside the monument, the former custodian's house now holds a private collection on Kobarid in the Great War.

Visiting

Pot na Gradič climbs from Kobarid to the hilltop, and the fourteen Stations of the Cross stand along it, so count them off as you go. At the top, go up the central stairways through the three tiers, stopping at the tombs on either side.

Then walk round the two tiers of named niches before you reach the church at the summit. Turn round there for the view, and leave time for the collection in the custodian's house on your way out.

Guided or on your own

Guides from the Kobarid Museum lead the visit in Slovenian, Italian, English, German and Croatian, and the museum recommends no more than 30 people per guide. Book ahead by phone on +386 41 714 072, then meet at the museum and pay there, in cash or by card, before you walk up together.

To see the hill as part of a longer day, ask for the Kobarid Historical Trail. This guided circuit takes three to five hours and goes on to Tonocov grad and the Soča gorge; a shorter version takes two to three.

Tips

See the museum first, then the hill, on the same morning. The museum recommends sportswear or trekking shoes for its guided visits, so leave town shoes behind.

Cars can drive to the top, but the tiers themselves are climbed by the central stairways. The museum building has no ramp or lift either, so its permanent exhibition is out of reach for anyone with severe mobility limits.