Alpini ceremony in Novalesa on 4 November 2026
Date of the event:
On 4 November 2026, on the occasion of National Unity and Armed Forces Day, the National Association of Alpini (ANA) organised a commemorative ceremony at the Abbey of Novalesa, in the Susa Valley. The initiative was attended by the mayor of Novalesa, Nilo Durbiano, together with the chairman of the ANA Val Susa section, Gian Carlo Sosello, Captain Francesco Ricchiuto of the Carabinieri company, and the lieutenant of the Susa station, Carlo Mostratisi. Numerous pennants of the valley's Alpini groups were present, along with a French delegation of Chasseurs des Alpes [1].
The religious service
The ceremony opened with the official liturgical service in the abbey church of Saints Peter and Andrew, held to remember the fallen of all wars and the Alpini who have died. The event is part of the annual programme of historical initiatives organised by the National Association of Alpini for 4 November [1].
The procession to the war memorial
At the end of the religious service, civil and military authorities, together with Alpini representatives from the various sections, walked in procession to the Chapel of the Santissimo Salvatore, which within the monastic complex of Novalesa serves as a war memorial. Unlike the Unknown Soldier kept at the Altare della Patria in Rome, the building holds the remains of an Unknown Soldier who died during the Balkan campaign, whose body was brought back to Italy in the 1960s on the initiative of Franco Badò, then chairman of the local ANA section [1].
A moment of remembrance was held in front of the tomb, with a wreath of flowers laid and songs from the Alpini tradition sung in honour of the fallen [1].
Sources
- Alpini a Novalesa riuniti all’Abbazia per commemorare i caduti di guerra — L'Agenda News, 4 November 2026