Thanks are due to the municipality of Moriago della Battaglia for its kind collaboration.
Where is the Torre dei Caminesi located?
Standing tall in the historic heart of Moriago della Battaglia, the Torre dei Caminesi rises in Piazza della Vittoria, opposite the Church of San Leonardo.
The church of san Leonardo in Moriago della Battaglia
Rebuilt in the 1920s in neo-Romanesque style to a design by Alberto Alpago-Novello of Belluno, the parish church was born from the ruins of the earlier medieval place of worship, destroyed by the bombing of the Great War.
The church’s massive flared wooden portal is topped by five niches housing, on the left, the statues of Saint Anthony the Abbot, recognizable by the symbols of the tau-shaped staff, the bell and the pig, and Saint Leonard, depicted with broken chains. In the center stands the enthroned Madonna with Child, while on the right appear Saint Mark, with the book and the winged lion at his feet, and Saint Roch, recognizable by the pilgrim’s robe, the staff and the dog at his side.
The Torre dei Caminesi and the new bell tower
The Pancotto report of 1929 states that the Torre dei Caminesi, towards the end of the 16th century, was equipped with two bells that in May 1837 were replaced by two lighter ones, made by the Colbachini foundry in Bassano.
Between 1917 and 1918, the Torre dei Caminesi was hit by Italian artillery, as the Regio Esercito could not allow such a strategically important stronghold to remain in enemy hands. In that same period, the Austrians removed the tower bells and melted them down to make up for the shortage of war materials.
The ruins of the Torre dei Caminesi stand beside the current Romanesque bell tower of the parish church. Designed by Alpago Novello and completed in 1924, it rises to thirty-five metres and features a square base five and a half metres on each side.
On 31 August 1944 the new bell tower was set on fire from the inside by the Fascists and the German Command, which believed that the partisans used this structure to send light signals.
A commemorative stele dedicated to the 241 war refugees from Moriago and Mosnigo who died of hunger, hardship and disease in 1917 and 1918 has been placed inside the Torre dei Caminesi. At the center of the plaque stands a crucifix, at the base of which reads the inscription: A.D. MMV.
The proximity to Isola del Morti
One of the most significant historical landmarks of Moriago della Battaglia, the Torre dei Caminesi is located less than four kilometres north of Isola dei Morti, a monumental park of about one hundred and twelve hectares, stretching along the edge of the Piave riverbed, created in memory of the soldiers who died in this place during the decisive phases of the First World War on the front of the sacred river of the fatherland, namely the battle of attrition, fought between November and December 1917 after the defeat at Caporetto, the Battle of the Solstice, between 15 and 24 June 1918, and the Vittorio Veneto offensive, between 24 October and 4 November 1918.
Designed by Alberto Alpago-Novello himself, the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Piave, whose construction was completed in 1965, stands in the central Piazzale “Ragazzi del ’99” opposite the pyramidal stone erected in 1923 in memory of the fallen of the Island.
