Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy
Roman Catholic
In the early 20th century the old St. Nicholas church in Poscolle was idilapidated. When the priest returned from World War I, he had a vision of creating a new church with a shrine to honor those fallen in the war. It was an ambitious project; construction began in 1925. Plans were redrawn after the government decreed that ossuaries were to be built to receive remains of the fallen soldiers to be gathered from 200 cemeteries scattered across Europe. The revised structure, to accomodate 20,000 bodies ,was approved in 1932. The combined church-ossuary was consecrated in 1940.