Italiano
The Barzio War Memorial is a monument in memory of the soldiers from Barzio who fell in war located in the center of the town, in the middle of Piazza Garibaldi in a small pedestrian area. On a plinth, the stage is dominated at more than two meters high by a bronze statue of a lion standing on a reddish stone, for which the monument is called the lion of Barzio. The best position to admire it is along the body, from the slope of Via Roma or in front of the Chalet, and from the head, looking towards the low houses in the square. The lion is the symbol of the most famous location in Valsassina, as well as a tourist attraction; the dear lion is also a privileged place to meet in the country. Next to the lion, a granite stele rises almost four meters high with two bronze tiles in opposite directions. On the white marble frame of the corner of the base, three memorable verses, and the dedication, Barzio ai suoi caduti. On the opposite side of the monument, on three white marble tombstones are the names of the soldiers who fell in war, in the World War I and II, as well as one who fell in the African War of 1896, listed in alphabetical order, with the date of birth and the date of death, and a votive lamp.[^][^]
The monument to the fallen of Barzio was inaugurated on August 23, 1952, inspired by the first war memorial of 1923 that fell into ruin during the war. The monument was designed by architects Marangoni and Monesi, the lion statue is the work of Giuseppe Mozzanica, the tiles are by Michele Vedani recovered from the old monument.
With Barzio War Memorial, I conclude the review of the eight posts that I published 10 years ago at the beginning of the summer of 2015 on the Barzio blog, which is now called Around Barzio.
Bronze lion
On a plinth of about 80 centimetres, a life-size bronze statue of a lion, about two metres long and one metre twenty centimetres high, stands on a reddish or rust-coloured stone above the head of an observer.[^] From the downstream side, you can admire the lion's body and tail, while the large head and thick mane are facing the older houses in the square with the shops, that is, towards the south. The lion does not inspire fear, its mouth is in the shape of an upside-down U, its eyes wide open,[^] at most the solitary African feline transplanted to a Lombard mountain arouses respect for its reputation for strength and pride, as well as amazement for its unusual presence and friendliness. A bronze flag is placed on the rock and is defended by the claws of the lion's right paw.[^] Symbolically, the lion represents the heroism and courage of the soldiers who fought for their homeland, which physically is the bronze flag. At the same time, it is vulnerable, like life, taken too soon. In the lion of Barzio there is also the pride of a land that sacrificed its sons for the good of Italy. The large stone[^] sets the scene for the monument to the fallen in Valsassina because it comes from the Rocce Rosse (metamorphic rocks of sedimentary origin which take the name of verrucano)[^] behind the Rocca di Baiedo, a limestone massif which narrows the valley between Pasturo and Introbio.
Plinth
The monumento ai caduti di Barzio has a rectangular plinth in reddish stone of about four by three meters[^] which raises the entire structure eighty centimeters from the ground on the valley side, where there is the Chalet ice cream bar, slightly less towards the mountain because the square is on a slight slope.
Before continuing with the description, I realize that I have mentioned valley, mountain and the cardinal points to indicate the direction. I would like to point out that in the square where the monument is located, the small and beautiful Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi ruined by the passage of vehicles, valley is to the west, where the Grigna rises on the other side, mountain is to the east, where Monte Orscellera rises, north is in the direction of Via Ippolito Manzoni and the sporting goods shop Marocco Sport.
On the white marble frame of the base, under the lion's head, on the two upper corners there are two epigraphs in red characters. In the direction towards the valley, three verses for il leone di Barzio:[^]
Ruggi non domo ed eco fa il Pioverna
forte nell'ugne il tricolore serri
simbolo che nostra fe' nel bronzo eterna
A translation could be this:
Roar not tame and echoes the Pioverna
strong in the nail the tricolour you tight
symbol of our faith in the bronze eternal
The untamed lion roars so loudly that the Pioverna echoes his cry. Many know that the Pioverna is the torrent that flows in Valsassina, which rises in Grigna at 1813 metres of Bocchetta di Campione and flows into Lake Como at Bellano.[^] With his nails he tightly grips the tricolour flag, a symbol that in bronze our faith (in the nation) is eternal.
The verses are by Renzo Buzzoni, a local poet who lived in the twentieth century,[^] reworked from those of Sigismondo Boldoni[^] from Bellano from three centuries earlier, rugge il Pioverna dai gorghi neri, the Pioverna roars from the black whirlpools. It is worth knowing that the Pioverna torrent, before flowing into the Lario, dug a deep gorge and shaped the imposing rocks of the mountain, creating a gloomy and suggestive environment. The dark roar of the tumultuous waters and the wild beauty of nature have always inspired mysterious tales and legends and even today these places are shrouded in an aura of mystery.[^] Boldoni described these gorges and waterfalls in the seventeenth century as orrore di un'orrenda orrendezza, gorge of a horrendous hideousness, which is why today they are called Orrido di Bellano.[^][^]
Returning to the frame of the base, on the other corner, facing the old houses, also called Buzzoni by the ancient owners, on the white slab, with the same characters as the poem, a simple dedication, Barzio ai suoi caduti, that is Barzio to his fallen.[^]
Granite obelisk with two tiles
Behind the body of the bronze lion that protects Barzio, rises a granite obelisk[^] about four metres high and about thirty centimetres wide, which narrows slightly from bottom to top on the two south and north sides. The stele supports two bronze bas-reliefs[^] of equal size, about one metre high by fifty centimetres, which can be seen at human height, one to the south and one to the north, the work of the Lecco sculptor Michele Vedani. The two small tiles[^] were saved from the war memorial inaugurated in 1923 and re-proposed in the new monument for their artistic value, modelled with the rapid and moving touch in vogue in the Scapigliatura movement.
The bas-relief closest to the lion's head is more visible and has a significant emotional impact. A woman embraces and kisses a soldier, who is about to leave for war, to whose skirt a small child is clinging; the man has his left arm open. The artist has sculpted in bronze the pain of a family on the day of separation, with all the fears that war causes, which is more real and hurts more because of the presence of the child.[^]
The other bas-relief can be seen laterally from the lion's tail, while from the front it is hidden by the presence of a cypress that has grown, the plant is the view of those coming from Via Ippolito Manzoni. In the bronze, a soldier stands out in relief on a rock who raises a flag with his left hand, as a sign of victory, in the right hand he holds a rifle downwards, under the top of a mountain you can see the heads of comrades. The main purpose of war memorials is not to celebrate a victory, which is in any case the goal of those who go (are sent) to fight in the war in defense of the homeland, which Vedani represents in his art.[^]
Three white marble tombstones with the names
The innovative feature of the war memorials of the twentieth century are the names, engraved on one or more tombstones, in everlasting memory of those who fell in war defending the nation. The war memorial of Barzio has a different history from the majority of war memorials in Italy. The latter were built after the First World War, while the one in Barzio after the Second, as a remake of the older monument. Thus it was designed to unite the dead of the First and Second Wars, while usually the names of the fallen of the World War II were added to those of the Great War in the existing monument.
The names of the fallen from Barzio, the 'caduti barziesi', are on three white tombstones slightly inclined to facilitate reading, in a horizontal row, which are observed from the direction upstream of the monument. For those who know the town, the position is where the cars go around the square, in front of Bar Sport. From head height, the lower names are read behind the finishing of the base consisting of a series of metal crosses of about thirty centimeters by twenty along the entire structure of the monument. Behind, on the surface of the stele, a red cross.[^] The names are in alphabetical order, without the date of birth and the date of death, engraved in red, repainted with a certain frequency. At the corner of the monument where there are the tombstones, there is a green flag-raising pole, with the tricolour. The flag-raising ritual takes place on rare occasions, at public gatherings for Alpine parades[^] and on the anniversary of 4 November.
Names of the fallen
I list the names, trying to imitate the layout as well.
On the left, the first tombstone:[^]
| Africa 1896 |
Arrigoni Antonio |
|
|
| 1915 - 1918 |
Arrigoni Neri Giov. |
|
Arrigoni Rocco |
|
Buzzoni Antonio |
|
Buzzoni Arturo |
|
Costadoni Francesco |
|
Ganassa Alessandro |
|
Ganassa Ambrogio A. |
|
Ganassa Giovanni |
|
Ganassa Giuseppe |
|
Invernizzi Antonio |
|
Invernizzi Carlo di G. |
|
Invernizzi Carlo di P. |
|
Invernizzi Domenico |
|
Invernizzi G. Domenico |
|
Invernizzi Giuseppe |
|
Merlo Candido Felice |
|
Molteni Carlo |
|
Molteni Giosuè |
|
Molteni Giovanni |
|
Molteni Isidoro |
In the center, the second tombstone:[^]
|
Moneta Calimero |
|
Pelagatta Biagio |
|
Pelagatta Romeo |
|
Plati Carlo |
|
Plati Giovanni |
|
Plati Giuseppe fu G. |
|
Plati Giuseppe fu B. |
|
Riva Casimiro |
|
Rosa Bernardo |
|
Rossi Carl Antonio |
|
Rossi Pietro |
|
Salvi Vittorio |
|
Valsecchi Carlo |
|
Valsechini Giovanni |
| 1940 - 1945 |
|
| Grecia |
Arrigoni Neri Angelo |
| Albania |
Camozzini Giuseppe di G. |
|
|
| Germania |
Paroli Natale |
|
Platti Carlo |
|
Rosa Giuseppe |
|
Ruffinoni Giuseppe |
|
Tantardini Germano |
On the right, the third tombstone:[^]
| Rappresaglia |
Amanti Carlo |
| in Zona 1945 |
Gargenti Martino G. |
|
Molteni Eufrasio |
|
Pezzati Oreste |
|
Valsecchi Cesare |
|
|
| In Servizio |
Pezzati Silvano |
|
|
| Dispersi |
Arrigoni Domenico di V. |
|
Invernizzi Antonio |
|
Rosa Giacomo |
|
Rossi Zanetti Luigi |
|
Rossi Pietro Riccardo |
|
Scandella Lorenzo |
Rappresaglia in Zona means Reprisal in the Zone, In Servizio In Service and Dispersi Missing.
To distinguish names with the same name (the two Invernizzi Carlo and the two Plati Giuseppe) the father's initial was added, introduced by di or fu, depending on whether the father was alive or deceased, a notation that is extended to two fallen soldiers who do not have the same name (Camozzini Giuseppe and Arrigoni Domenico). Merlo Candido Felice was remembered even though he was from Cremeno.
Counting the names of the monument to the fallen of Barzio, the austere leone di Barzio, the following are remembered: 1 fallen in the African war 1896,[^] or rather in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, 34 fallen in the First World War 1915-1918, 19 fallen and missing in the Second World War 1940-1945.
Votive lamp
On the podium, a bronze votive lamp has the task of keeping alive the memory of the sacrifice of the soldiers, which is located in the background between the first and second tombstone, while it is hidden from the valley by the lion. On a reddish stone of the same origin as that of the lion but very small, a cup is made up of two symmetrical halves inverted of half a meter each, worked in bronze, which on top supports a helmet, the effect of which is to form a lamp.[^]
Pedestrian area
At the end of the 20th century, the Barzio War Memorial was protected and enhanced with the creation of a pedestrian area, which is small in size, but sufficient to become the favorite place for vacationers and tourists, who admire the solitary and severe guardian of Barzio, take photos and selfies.[^] A part closer to the monument is raised by a step, where the municipal coat of arms is drawn on the pavement,[^] while closer the tiles leave space for pebbles. Close to the monument, to the north there is a small triangular green area with a cypress, which has grown over time as high as the stele, three or four meters. On the edge of the road towards Marocco Sport, another space that delimits the area, on the ground stones and a red maple.
Currently, the area is blocked off from vehicles by three metal chains, two long ones on either side of the Chalet ice cream shop and a shorter one behind it, supported by two small granite pillars, one of which is among the rocks near the maple tree. A rather long wooden bench is positioned to the side, while two equally simple ones face uphill.
Project and inauguration, August 23, 1952
In the post-war period of the second conflict, Barzio thought about the reconstruction of the memorial placed in 1923 in the middle of Piazza Garibaldi, which had been left without a lion, to restore dignity to the row of names of the fallen still engraved on the marble of the pedestal and unite them to the fallen of the war that had just ended, and to Antonio Arrigoni, who died in the Abyssinian war of 1896, later written on the plaque as war in Africa.
Barzio War Memorial project was entrusted to the architects Marangoni and Monesi[^] by the Pro Barzio company set up for the work, subsidised by the builder Giovanni Arrigoni Battaia. The two young architects could do nothing but propose a new sculpture of the first monument, which in less than twenty years of life was already a milestone. Strangely enough, the artist Michele Vedani, author of the previous one, was not called back to create the new bronze lion. Instead, the two small tiles, which had been saved from the destructive fury of the war, were relocated to a four-meter-high granite stele. In continuity with the previous work, the three patriotic verses by Renzo Buzzoni were rewritten on the base. Giuseppe Mozzanica[^] sculpted an adult lion looking towards the Buzzoni houses. In this position it is impossible Ruggi non domo ed eco fa il Pioverna, the first of the verses on the plinth taken literally, because the torrent and the valley are in the opposite direction of the muzzle, the ones that the lion of 1923 was looking at.
The reconstituted monumento ai caduti di Barzio was inaugurated on Saturday 23 August 1952, accompanied by La Leggenda del Piave played by the Santa Cecilia band of the town and that of Lecco. The monument was blessed by the parish priest Don Pietro Tenca. This information is taken from the article by the historian Federico Oriani written for the fiftieth anniversary of the new birth, which also reconstructs the history of the first monument: History of a monument: The Lion of Barzio (23 August 1952 - 23 August 2002) published in Archivi di Lecco Year XXV - N.2-3 April-September 2002.[^]
Project of the first Barzio War Memorial and inauguration, 26 August 1923
The present war memorial replaced the first Barzio War Memorial, which was also located in the center of Piazza Garibaldi. The agony of the First World War, although victorious for Italy, which in November 1918 completed national unification with the annexation of Trento and Trieste, and their territories,[^] had left almost all families in mourning for the large number of dead soldiers. The request of the local communities for a sign in the territory of loss and emptiness was welcomed by local and national politics as mediation and partial compensation. Thus, every town in Italy has its own war memorial, positioned for its relevance in a strategic place, the main square, in the historic center, in front of a train station, in a park, and even a boulevard of remembrance, which associates a tree with a fallen soldier. Conceived before the fascist era, they were built at the beginning of the new Italian political course.
The idea of a monument was promoted by a Pro-Barzio committee chaired by Ferdinando Merlo and by the subsequent "Comitato esecutivo pro ricordo ai Caduti" established on 12 March 1922. The place of greatest visibility was the crossroads that in 1886 had taken the name of Garibaldi, the leader who contributed decisively to unifying Italy with the Expedition of the Thousand.[^] After the First World War, in the 1920s, the square was small, without a direct connection to the valley, today's Via Roma did not exist, and there was no room for a monument. Between the square and Via Ippolito Manzoni, a piece of land was in usufruct to Domenica Dionigi, widow of Ippolito Manzoni, after whom the street was named. The bare ownership by will of the two spouses had been ceded to the diocese of Milan to erect a new parish church. The need of the municipality to have this space available in view of the construction of the monument to the fallen was accepted by the vicar general of the diocese, Mons. Ambrogio Portaluppi. On 30 July 1922, Domenica Dionigi renounced the usufruct. The cost of the monument was covered by the generosity of residents and vacationers and by the municipality, which allocated 25,000 lire. In the summer of 1922, various fundraising activities were promoted, the sale of pins, crosses and decorations, a charity raffle and a lottery, respectively of 4,000 and 6,000 tickets. The tender was won on March 31, 1923 by Michele Vedani, who originally chose a bronze statue of a lion as the main element of the monument.
A symbolic date was chosen to inaugurate the Barzio War Memorial, August 26, 1923, the day of the patron saint, Saint Alexander the Martyr, who fell on a Sunday. The town was decked out with myriads of tricolor flags. The SAL organized for the event numerous extraordinary runs of 18-seater buses Lecco-Barzio-Lecco from 8 to 17 and for local transport a shuttle to Maggio, at the time when the Ponte della Vittoria was under construction. Before, the bronze lion arrived, carried on a cart, which caused wonder and amazement, and was covered. The solemn day included several moments: a refreshment, a mass presided over by Monsignor Rusconi of the Sanctuary of S. Celso of Milan, the unveiling of the monument, the blessing of the parish priest Don Vincenzo Imperiali. Then, poems recited by two little girls and a Balilla. Finally, the presentation and thanks speech by the mayor Merlo and that of the representative of the Prefect. The great event was attended by, the mayors of the valley and of Lecco, the Prefect, honorable members, party representatives, military personnel, high prelates, Associations of Combatants, Mothers and Widows of the Fallen, Mutilated and Invalids, sports associations, fascist sections, Alpine troops, journalists from local and national editorial offices, and the people, who flocked there in large numbers.[^]
The 1923 Barzio War Memorial and its end
On a high white stage, embossed more than three meters high, a bronze lion stands on a rock with its hind legs raised, its head held high. On the rock is a flag wrapped around a pole that ends like a spear, made of bronze like the feline; an ice axe can also be seen. The lion looks at Valsassina in the direction in which the Pioverna flows, to the north, that is, rotated in the opposite direction to the current one. It is a young lion with lean muscles, with a stiff tail, standing on its paws and roaring threateningly, ready to spring forward in a watchful tension. Two bas-reliefs are placed in the center of the stage structure in opposite directions, upstream the bas-relief of the woman kissing the departing soldier. On either side of this bas-relief, two tombstones with the names of the fallen of the First World War.[^] The title of the first tombstone was:
| Barzio |
| ai figli caduti |
| nella guerra di liberazione |
| 1915-1918 |
Barzio to the sons who fell in the war of liberation 1915-1918
Compared to the names of the Great War engraved on the 1952 monument, which we admire today in Piazza Garibaldi, Pelegatta Romeo (died in 1922) and Rossi Pietro were missing. Numerous photographs and postcards of the old monument are preserved, some shots are in close-up.[^] Both the lion statue and the bas-reliefs were the work of Michele Vedani. The choice of the lion was influenced by the artistic training of the author, who had created bronzes exhibited at Brera, at the Venice Biennale in 1906 and in Samson Strangling the Lion, winner of the Fumagalli Prize in 1903.[^] The work was approved by Medardo Rosso, the famous impressionist sculptor who lived in the town. Michele Vedani was born in Milan in 1874, studied at the Brera Academy; he was a prolific sculptor, author of numerous monuments and busts in Milan, Lecco, Como, Pavia, Varese and models for medals. He died in the Lombard capital at 94 years old.[^]
On the stone of the monument were written verses by Renzo Buzzoni, inspired by a poem by Sigismondo Boldoni from Bellano. Between 1932 and 1934, the monument was fenced with a protection a few dozen centimeters high.[^]
In June 1940, Italy entered the war. The shortage of metals to produce weapons did not spare the precious Valsassina bronze lion from the melting of the Ente Distribuzione Rottami, nor even the gate. In the square, the cube of the base with the names of the sons of Barzio who fell in 1915-1918, and the fence, remained disconsolate.
References
- Mauro Vezzoli (2 June 2005- ). "Monumento ai caduti di Barzio". [Google Photos album]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli. "Monumento ai caduti di Barzio". [Flickr album]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (20 August 2013). "The proud lion in the centre of Barzio, symbol of the courage of the soldiers who gave their lives for Italy in the First and in the Second World War.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, In giro per Barzio, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (17 June 2015). "The face of the lion of Barzio and mane in the foreground. The feline is not scary, the mouth draws a downward arch, the eyes are sunken. I am writing the description of the photo of the monument to the fallen of Barzio, as well as the others of Piazza Garibaldi, nine years after the shot of June 2015.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (16 June 2015). "Another close-up of the monument from June 16, 2015, bronze flag folded on the stone and tip of the flagpole.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (17 June 2015). "The slightly inclined rust-colored stone on which the lion rests. The slope favors the bearing of the animal statue.". In In giro per Barzio, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Verrucano". Treccani. In Italian. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "monumento ai caduti - ad obelisco, opera isolata di Giueseppe Mozzanica, Vedani Michele (XX secolo) [monument to the fallen - obelisk, isolated work by Giueseppe Mozzanica, Vedani Michele (20th century)]". Catalogo generale di Beni Culturali [General Catalogue of Cultural Heritage]. In Italian. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (31 July 2013). "Roar not tame and echoes the Pioverna the first of three verses by Renzo Buzzoni on the white edge of the monument, which I copy here: RUGGI NON DOMO ED ECO FA IL PIOVERNA FORTE NELL'UGNE IL TRICOLOR SERRI SIMBOL CHE NOSTRA FE' NEL BRONZO ETERNA. A translation could be this: Roar not tame and echoes the Pioverna strong in the nail the tricolour you tight symbol of our faith in the bronze eternal.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Pioverna". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Buzzoni, Renzo (1958). "Buzzoni". Bergamini memoria viva [Bergamini living memory]. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Sigismondo Boldoni". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Bellano gorge [Orrido di Bellano]". Montagne Lago di Como. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Orrido di Bellano". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Orrido di Bellano". Discovering Bellano. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (16 June 2015). "Corner of the monument to the fallen of Barzio with two epigraphs on the white marble base, the three verses by Renzo Buzzoni that exalt the figure of the lion and Barzio to its fallen.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "obelisk". Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Relief". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Tile". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (16 June 2015). "There are many elements that make up the monument to the fallen of Barzio. On the granite stele, a bronze bas-relief stands out, in which is represented the kiss of a woman to a soldier who is leaving, to the woman's dress clings a child. The artist therefore portrays the pain of a family in the act of separation due to the descent into war.". In In giro per Barzio, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (19 June 2015). "For the position of the bas-relief of the soldier raising the flag in a sign of victory I have to wait until late afternoon for it to be illuminated by the sun. The work on the obelisk of the war memorial is by Michele Vedani.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (16 June 2015). "Arrived a week ago, after mid-June I focus on the splendid monument to the fallen of Barzio because I am writing an article about it, which together with Piazza Garibaldi inaugurates my blog on Google. The ambitious project is to describe the streets, the squares, the places of the village of Valsassina. The three white tombstones of the monument to the fallen with the names of the fallen and the lion on the stone. On the Zucco di Desio, clouds.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (8 July 2023). "Flag-raising ceremony at the war memorial in Barzio to conclude the week of exercises in Valsassina of the 2nd Alpine Regiment of the Taurinense Alpine Brigade. On the morning of Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Piazza Garibaldi, the Mameli Anthem or Canto degli Italiani resounds, played by the Santa Cecilia Band and sung by those present. As in 2016 in Cornisella, for the significant gesture I am filming one of the very few videos.". [YouTube video]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (16 June 2015). "The leftmost plaque of the war memorial with the names of the oldest wars, a Barzio citizen who died in the African war of 1896 and those of the First World War, 1915-1918, in alphabetical order, up to Molteni Isidoro. The frame above the base is an original series of small iron crosses, with a very small space between them joined with welding. I consider today's photos of the war memorial of Barzio so professional that I published them not only on Google Photos but also on Flickr and Facebook.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (17 June 2015). "To document a war memorial, you need a lot of photographs. The morning sun of Wednesday, June 17 and the equipment I bought 6 months ago, a Samsung NX3000 camera, help me to leave worthily images of the Barzio War Memorial in the central Piazza Garibaldi. The plaque in the center, with the names of the fallen of 1915-1918, which continue from the first, from Moneta Calimero to Valseschini Giovanni, and those of 1940-1945, who died in Greece, Albania, Germany.". In Monumento ai caduti di Barzio and Piazza Garibaldi. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (2 August 2013). "My attention at the turn of August 2013 is for the valuable monument that dominates the square of Barzio. Here the third plaque, with the names of other fallen and missing, who bring to memory the sad days of the wars.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "First Italo-Ethiopian War". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2013). "A nice detail of the war memorial, with the lamp and the helmet casting a shadow on the stele, the bas-relief, the lion's mane, the stone, the tip of the flag.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Cantini Aurora (29 August 2022). "Il Leone di Bronzo della Valsassina [The Bronze Lion of Valsassina]". Le Ali dell'Aurora. in Italian. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Simboli [Symbol]". In Barzio. Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Monumenti e lapidi [Monuments and gravestones]". 14-18. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Giuseppe Mozzanica". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Oriani, Federico Francesco. "Storia di un monumento: Il Leone di Barzio (23 August 1952 - 23 August 2002) [History of a monument: The Lion of Barzio (23 August 1952 - 23 August 2002)]". pp. 5-8. Estratto da Archivi di Lecco n. 2-3-2002 [Extract from Lecco Archives n. 2-3-2002. (in Italian). Cattaneo Paolo Grafiche s.r.l. - Oggiono - Lecco. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "National Unity and Armed Forces Day". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Giuseppe Garibaldi". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Oriani, Federico Francesco. "Storia di un monumento: Il Leone di Barzio (23 August 1952 - 23 August 2002) [History of a monument: The Lion of Barzio (23 August 1952 - 23 August 2002)]". pp. 2-4. Estratto da Archivi di Lecco n. 2-3-2002 [Extract from Lecco Archives n. 2-3-2002]. (in Italian). Cattaneo Paolo Grafiche s.r.l. - Oggiono - Lecco. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "anno 1928 vecchio monumento ai caduti [year 1928 old war memorial]". In cartoline barzio. Giuseppe Ganassa di Ganassa Marco. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Vecchia Barzio [Old Barzio]". In cartoline barzio. Giuseppe Ganassa di Ganassa Marco. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- Rota, Tiziana. "Barzio (LC) e Montù Beccaria (PV) I leoni difendono la bandiera [Barzio (LC) and Montù Beccaria (PV) The lions defend the flag]". [PDF File]. Michele Vedani Scultore testimone di un'epoca [Michele Vedani Sculptor, witness of an era]. Museo delle Grigne. pp. 6-7. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "Michele Vedani". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- "anno 1940 Piazza Garibaldi". In cartoline barzio. Giuseppe Ganassa di Ganassa Marco. (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2024.
