Things to Do
The International Red Cross Museum is currently being renovated. Only some rooms will be open during Solferino 2024. Check the museum's website and this website for any updates as Solferino 2024 draws near.
The International Red Cross Museum is situated in the centre of Castiglione delle Stiviere, located in the Morainic Hills of Garda. This Museum includes documents, surgical instruments, litters and camp equipment witnessing past and present activities of the Red Cross in the World. The message of solidarity and brotherhood that the people from Castiglione conveyed unknowingly to whom founded the great Organization, after witnessing the excruciating human slaughter following the battle of Solferino in 1859.
Normally the price of admission is 8 euros per person but currently the price is 5 euros per person because of the renovation and only some rooms of the museum will be open. Guided tours take place by reservation for groups of up to 25 people maximum.
Groups of 10 to 25 people can benefit from a reduced rate.
In the center of Castiglione delle Stiviere there are several public pay parking lots. A large car park near the museum is located in Vicolo Bratasedassi, near the socio-health district.
Tours of the Museum located at Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 50 in Castiglione delle Stiviere can be arranged through: tel. 0376-638505 or email [email protected]
Click here for more information!
The International Red Cross Museum is situated in the centre of Castiglione delle Stiviere, located in the Morainic Hills of Garda. This Museum includes documents, surgical instruments, litters and camp equipment witnessing past and present activities of the Red Cross in the World. The message of solidarity and brotherhood that the people from Castiglione conveyed unknowingly to whom founded the great Organization, after witnessing the excruciating human slaughter following the battle of Solferino in 1859.
Normally the price of admission is 8 euros per person but currently the price is 5 euros per person because of the renovation and only some rooms of the museum will be open. Guided tours take place by reservation for groups of up to 25 people maximum.
Groups of 10 to 25 people can benefit from a reduced rate.
In the center of Castiglione delle Stiviere there are several public pay parking lots. A large car park near the museum is located in Vicolo Bratasedassi, near the socio-health district.
Tours of the Museum located at Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 50 in Castiglione delle Stiviere can be arranged through: tel. 0376-638505 or email [email protected]
Click here for more information!
Re-enactment of the Battle of Solferino
Calling all history buffs! The date for the 2024 re-enactment of the Battle of Solferino in San Martino, which inspired Henri Dunant to write a Memory of Solferino and later set about a process that led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the International Red Cross has not been determined.
If you are interested in reading a Memory of Solferino, please click here for a free digital download!!
Duomo di Castiglione delle Stieviere (aka Church of Saints Nazio and Celso Martiri)
In the nineteenth century this religious building witnessed one of the most significant events in the history of international solidarity. Following the bloody battle of Solferino and San Martino (June 24, 1859), Castiglione was invaded by thousands of wounded from the battlefield. Shocked by the butchery of the Battle, Swiss businessman Henri Dunant arranged for the women of Castiglione to provide care to the wounded. They brought hundreds of soldiers to this duomo which was converted into a makeshift hospital to treat all the wounded without distinction of nationality. Located at Piazzale Duomo 3, 46043 Castiglione delle Stiviere in Mantua. Hours of operation are Sunday 7am - 12 pm; 3 pm - 7 pm and Monday thru Saturday 8am - 12 pm. |
Jean Henry Dunant House
As remembered by a memorial tablet on the facade, Jean Henry Dunant lived in this house in Castiglione delle Stiviere in late June 1859 while taking care of the soldiers injured during the Battle of Solferino. It is now called the Palazzo Bondoni Pastori Foundation and is located at Via Guglielmo Marconi 34, 46043 Castiglione delle Stiviere. The Palace, as well as preserving the evidence of Henry Dunant’s stay in Castiglione delle Stiviere, including the room where he stayed, various personal items and some autographs, is a fascinating open book about five centuries of local history.Paintings, furniture, books and original prints offer views of the landscape, architecture and lifestyle of the aristocracy of Mantua since the late Renaissance to the nineteenth century. |
International Red Cross Memorial On June 24, 1959 the International Red Cross Memorial was inaugurated inside “Parco della Rocca” in Solferino. The names of all the Red Cross Societies are engraved on the granite monument. You can walk to the memorial which is located in back of Piazza Castello which is the piazza where volunteers initially gather before the Fiaccolata each year. |
The Tower of San Martino della Battaglia
The famous Tower of San Martino was built in memory of the bloody Battle of Solferino where tens of thousands of people lost their lives, This 74 meter high tower was built between 1880-1893. Inside the monuments, a ramp drives visitors from the entrance to the top, allowing them to admire precious frescoes and bronze statues. From the highest point of the tower, you can enjoy a wonderful view of Southern Garda Lake and of the land surrounding it. Every night there are three lights that beam the Italian tricolor on top of the tower. Behind the tower is the historical museum containing memorabilia and historical documents of the battle and adjacent to the tower is one of the larger ossuary chapels containing 2,619 human remains of Italian and Austrian soldiers.
Ossuary at San Pietro and The Ossario di San Martino
AFTER THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO on June 24, 1859—a decisive battle of the Second War of Italian Unification that led to the founding of the Red Cross— both the French army under Napoleon III and the Austrian army under Franz Joseph withdrew. They left the battlefield, strewn with the bodies of tens of thousands of fallen soldiers, to the locals to clean up.
The bones of around 7,000 dead soldiers were placed in the Church of San Pietro, where they remain today as well as in the small chapel in San Martino. The vast collection of bones are neatly stored according to type. Thousands of skulls line the walls behind the altar, stacked on row upon row of shelving. It may sound very gruesome, but the ossuary is a quiet and respectful place to reflect on the ravages of war, and pay respects to the fallen soldiers.
Visiting Red Crossers from around the world often leave a small token from their national society when visiting the ossuaries. Sometimes they leave a banner, a picture, a pin, a poem or a flower from their country. Out of a horrific event where many died, something beautiful was born.....the largest humanitarian network in the world.
The address for the ossuary in San Martino is 25015 Desenzano del Garda San Martino della Battaglia.
The address for the ossuary in San Pietro is 28 Via Ossario Solferino. (This ossuary is right next to the Museum of Solferino)
AFTER THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO on June 24, 1859—a decisive battle of the Second War of Italian Unification that led to the founding of the Red Cross— both the French army under Napoleon III and the Austrian army under Franz Joseph withdrew. They left the battlefield, strewn with the bodies of tens of thousands of fallen soldiers, to the locals to clean up.
The bones of around 7,000 dead soldiers were placed in the Church of San Pietro, where they remain today as well as in the small chapel in San Martino. The vast collection of bones are neatly stored according to type. Thousands of skulls line the walls behind the altar, stacked on row upon row of shelving. It may sound very gruesome, but the ossuary is a quiet and respectful place to reflect on the ravages of war, and pay respects to the fallen soldiers.
Visiting Red Crossers from around the world often leave a small token from their national society when visiting the ossuaries. Sometimes they leave a banner, a picture, a pin, a poem or a flower from their country. Out of a horrific event where many died, something beautiful was born.....the largest humanitarian network in the world.
The address for the ossuary in San Martino is 25015 Desenzano del Garda San Martino della Battaglia.
The address for the ossuary in San Pietro is 28 Via Ossario Solferino. (This ossuary is right next to the Museum of Solferino)