Monument to the fallen of the XX June

The monument, dedicated to the fallen of XX June, is one of the places of the city identity, and  testifies the contribute of Perugia to the national unit. It symbolizes the resistance of the city to mercenaries troops sent by Pope Pio IX on the 20th June 1859 to repress the popular revolt.

The monument was made by the sculptor Giuseppe Fringuelli and was unveiled in 1909, to celebrate the first 50 years after the happenings. It is  composed by a classic style basement, a Corinthian column on it and, at the top, a burning brazier, as proof of the fallen sacrifice.

Two unknown citizens without uniform are on the north side of the monument, facing that Porta San Pietro where the troops entered and that they tried to defend.

The griffin of Perugia is represented on the south side of the monument. It is grinding with a claw the papal tiara, as representation of the ending of pope temporal power; with the other claw the griffin grinds tyranny represented by Idra (the  untamable mythological snake). The papal tiara has been removed during the period  of the Fascist regime after the agreements between the Government and the Church; it has been reinstated in 1980 with the restoration of the monument.

On the 20th June 1944 another important event signed the History of Perugia: the Anglo-American troops entered the same Porta San Costanzo to stop the Fascist regime.
This important place has been chosen by Aldo Capitini as starting point of the first historic “Marcia della Pace – Peace March” in 1961, and still is.