Mayor Centazzo launched the idea of creating a memorial for the 3,463 dead in 1958. The process ran aground between animated debates, before the green light and the inauguration in 1969
UDINE. 3.463 were our victims in the liberation struggle and in the extermination camps. For this reason Udine, also known as the capital of the resistant Friuli (which is often forgotten), is a city decorated with a gold medal for military valor.
The idea of dedicating a monument to that page of history and to those who had sacrificed themselves arose spontaneously, as a sincere passion of the people, and the mayor Giacomo Centazzo gave voice to the intent in a municipal council on April 26, 1958. But, as often happens in the events of Udine, to complete the project it then took a long, tormented path, full of pitfalls. Eleven years of continuous battles, of a political and artistic nature, to arrive at April 25, 1969 when the work was inaugurated, on an equally tense day, lit by controversy and disputes.
What we see in piazzale XXVI Luglio, where the water will now return to gush, thus rekindles certain memories in which an interesting piece of Udine administrative life is condensed, with prominent names taking part in the dispute in various capacities.
33 projects were presented at the national competition and the commission, composed of experts such as the architect Francesco Tentori and the sculptor Aurelio Mistruzzi, chose the sketch number 17, presented by the architects Gino Valle and Federico Marconi and by the sculptor Dino Basaldella, awarded law in the relationship) for “purism and the consequent ability to arrive at a classicism and simplicity that gives guarantees on artistic validity and duration over time”.
All right, all decided? Not even for a dream because at that point we began to discuss animatedly to the point of slowing down the procedure, unlocked with a meeting on 21 December 1963 when the mayor Bruno Cadetto, who succeeded Centazzo, took the problem of the monument to heart and firmly wanted it. and courage the construction.
On that occasion Gino Valle illustrated his idea in detail, entitled “Forra” to give a sense of the wound and pain of those who had suffered fighting for freedom and democracy. The fountain, under the large concrete quadrilateral, wished to recreate an environment of meditation, removing the noise of traffic.
Valle also stated that the monument was in continuity with the Ossuary Temple in memory of the fallen in the Great War, designed by his father Provino and also the subject of second thoughts and doubts, so much so that it was only opened when the second conflict broke out. In the end Cadet won and on April 25, 1969 the inauguration was reached with the speeches of the Christian Democrat Rumor and the Communist Boldrini, a sort of resistance embrace, however contested in the square by the Student and Extra-parliamentary Movement.
Arturo Manzano, a great journalist, took sides to defend the monument. He said: «The monument is now there, with the wonderful inscription by Pietro Calamandrei. It is a true work, a work of poetry. And it will remain over time, to remind us of what the Resistance was ». –
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