Faenza War Cemetery
- Country Italy
- Total identified casualties 1139 Find these casualties
- Identified casualties from Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 44.27573, Longitude: 11.89202
Location information
Take the Bologna-Ancona autostrada A14 and exit at Faenza. Follow the signs for the town centre and after the bridge over the railway turn left following the sign to Forli (via delle Ceramiche). Then turn right at the second traffic light and follow the street (via Mura Mittarelli) until the bridge over the river. Take the bridge and turn right immediatly after it in viaPiazza following the sign to the Cemetery. At the roundabout turn right and go on until you will find the cemetery on your right. If travelling by train, it is recommended to take a taxi from Faenza train station to the cemetery, a journey of approximately 10 minutes. Cemetery address: Via Santa Lucia, 14 - 48018 Faenza (RA) Emilia Romagna. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: 44.275319, Longitude: 11.891563.
Visiting information
FAENZA WAR CEMETERY
The cemetery is southeast of Bologna to the south of the town of Borgo Dubecco in the Italian province of Romagna.
ARRIVAL
Routes to the cemetery from the town are signposted.
PARKING
There is a gravel parking area for 3 to 4 vehicles at the main entrance to the cemetery, approximately 20 meters from the main entrance building.
Additional parking is available at the side of the main road close to the cemetery.
ACCESS, LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE
The cemetery is a large rectangular shape.
To access the cemetery, follow a gravel path running from the parking area to the entrance building. Two steps lead up from the parking area to the path.
The entrance building has a tall double metal gate, opening inwards, approximately 1.6 meters wide. There is a single step up from the pathway to the entrance building and a single step down into the cemetery.
The Register box is located inside the entrance building.
The internal paths are grass; the ground is flat.
The Cross of Sacrifice stands in the centre of the cemetery.
There is a stone seating area at the rear of the cemetery, and timber benches long the sides of the cemetery, as well as a stone bench inside the entrance building.
Information panels are located next to the seating area at the rear of the cemetery.
ALTERNATIVE ACCESS
There is an alternative step free entrance at the side of the cemetery, leading into the cemetery from a gravel farm track.
The gate at the alternative entrance is approximately 2 metres wide.
The ground is flat and opens directly into the cemetery.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The cemetery is permanently open.
History information
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.
Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive lines. In the northern Appenine mountains the last of these, the Gothic Line, was breached by the Allies during the Autumn campaign and the front inched forward as far as Ravenna in the Adratic sector, but with divisions transferred to support the new offensive in France, and the Germans dug in to a number of key defensive positions, the advance stalled as winter set in.
The war cemetery at Faenza was formed during these months for the burial of those who were killed in the static fighting before the Allied advance was renewed in April 1945.
Faenza War Cemetery contains 1,152 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 13 of which are unidentified.