4 November 2026 in Ceva
Date of the event:
On 4 November 2026 Ceva held the ceremony for National Unity and Armed Forces Day, with wreaths laid at the cemetery and the war memorial and an address by mayor Fabio Mottinelli.
On 4 November 2026 Ceva, a municipality in the Province of Cuneo, marked National Unity and Armed Forces Day with a morning of commemorations attended by civil and military authorities, the Alpini, carabinieri cadets, students of the Cebano-Monregalese vocational training centre (CFP) and a delegation from the "Momigliano" comprehensive school. The events went ahead despite the rain [1][2].
The course of the ceremony
The celebrations began at the town cemetery, where a wreath was laid in memory of the people of Ceva who took part in the First World War. The procession then reached the war memorial, the site of the institutional ceremony [1][2].
In his address, mayor Fabio Mottinelli recalled the significance of war memorials as a point of reference for collective memory, even when no direct relatives of the fallen remain. A thought was dedicated to the four Italian soldiers killed in Bosnia, as part of a reflection on all those who died in peacekeeping missions [1][2].
The mayor's speech and the schools' involvement
Mottinelli stressed the symbolic value of the word "uniform" (uniforme), which he preferred to "garb" (divisa) for its evocation of unity, and the role of the armed forces in the service of institutions. The mayor contrasted the different paths open to young people, from violence to commitment to public institutions, citing the carabinieri cadets present and the members of Ceva's youth council [1][2].
A specific moment of the day involved the pupils and teachers of the primary school, who welcomed the procession with songs, in a passage that recalled the role of schoolteachers in some of the most difficult periods of Italian history [1][2].
The tour of the hamlets
The celebrations continued with the traditional tour of the municipality's hamlets, extending the tribute to the fallen across the whole territory. Mayor Mottinelli described the day by entrusting younger generations with the task of safeguarding the principles of memory, national unity and peace and turning them into everyday commitment [1][2].