During the Great War, at 5:45 AM on September 23, 1916, 14,200 kg of explosives were detonated by the Austro-Hungarian army, shocking the summit of Mount Cimone and burying the entire infantry brigade stationed there.
In the early post-war years, the remains of 1,210 fallen soldiers, all unidentified, were recovered and buried in a single chamber that constitutes the actual ossuary.
The ossuary of Mount Cimone was inaugurated on September 28, 1929, in the presence of Prince Umberto of Savoy.
Even today, the effect of the explosion is evident as it created the depression in front of the steps leading to the Ossuary.
