War memorial in Limmari

The War memorial in Limmari consisting of the temple and memorial stones is a contribution to the remembrance of the victims of the Pietransieri massacre, carried out by German soldiers in November 1943. Soon after the armistice, Nazi troops entrenched along the Gustav Line began looting goods and livestock from the towns and countryside of the main urban centres. This activity soon switched to the rounding up of the civilian population, in most cases used for heavy labour. On 21 November 1943, after issuing the request to leave the hamlet of Pietransieri, the Wehrmacht troops deported the remaining civilians to the Limmari forest. There, 128 people, including 60 women, 34 children under the age of 10 and a one-month-old baby were slaughtered and abandoned in the bush on mere suspicion of having provided support to the Allies and partisans.

The Monument, an octagonal-shaped temple, bears plaques on its interior walls with the names and ages of the civilian victims of the Nazi massacre. A further element of commemoration is the torchlight procession of remembrance, an event on 20 November each year in which the entire local community participates in the remembrance of the tragic event. The torchlight procession moves at night, retracing the route taken by the victims rounded up by the Nazis, starting from the forest where they lost their lives to the centre of the Pietransieri district.