Top of the World
The monumental tower of San Martino solemnly celebrates the entire Risorgimento period, from the First War of Independence (1848) to the taking of Rome (1870). It is located near the Museum of the Risorgimento of Solferino and San Martino and the ossuary of San Martino.
It was built from 1880 on the highest hill of San Martino, where the bloodiest phase of the Battle of San Martino (24th June 1859) was fought, an armed battle of the Second War of Independence; during the battle this hill was lost and re-conquered several times by the Sardinian Army, which eventually managed to prevail over the Imperial Royal Austrian Army paying a high price in terms of human lives.
The tower was built in memory of King Vittorio Emanuele II, considered the Father of the Fatherland, and those who fought for the unity of Italy. It was inaugurated on 15 October 1893 in the presence of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, and was built thanks to a popular subscription.
At the base there is a drum crowned by terracotta battlements with a diameter of 22.8 metres and a height of 19.8 metres. On the drum rests the cylinder of the tower, 13 metres in diameter, whose top part, which rises for about 64 metres, protrudes over a crown of cantilevered arches. An Italian flag flies on the summit terrace. The tower is situated inside a large park.
Inside, a spiral ramp leads to the top of the tower, from which you can enjoy a remarkable view of the lower Lake Garda and the surrounding morainic hills, as far as the Po Valley. On either side of the ramp there are several rooms enriched with bronze busts and frescoes by the painter Vittorio Emanuele Bressanin; the subjects of these frescoes represent some episodes of the Risorgimento wars.
