Monumento ai Lupi di Toscana – San Giovanni di Duino, Italy - Atlas Obscura

Monumento ai Lupi di Toscana

San Giovanni di Duino, Italy

Two bronze wolves atop this large rock honor the "Wolves of Tuscany" brigade of World War I. 

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The “Lupi di Toscana” (“Wolves of Tuscany”) brigade was an infantry division composed of two regiments of the Italian Army. Active since 1862, the Tuscany division became known as the “wolves” in 1915 during World War I. The name was first used to refer to the brigade by the enemy Austrian army.

Between 1916 and 1917, the division was active on the Asiago Plateau front, and then most notably, on the mountains of the Karst frontline around Trieste. They arrived in the spring of 1917 during the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo. In this area, the brigade captured Mount Sabotino and the Dosso Faiti hill. The brigade was also active during World War II and dissolved in 1943.

In 1951, a monument to the division was erected on the SS14 road near Duino, not far from Trieste and the old frontline. The monument consists of two bronze wolves representing the two regiments. One of the wolves is howling toward Mount Ermada, while the other is looking down toward the enemy.

A memorial stone under the monument is dedicated to a brigade commander. There is also an inscription from 1930 on the monument that details the first verses of the Aeneid. 

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