Female Sphinxes - Civitella del Tronto, Italy
Posted by: 
denben
N 42° 46.325 E 013° 40.009
33T E 390932 N 4736367
Two female stone sphinxes guard the funerary monument of Matthew Wade on Corso Giuseppe Mazzini in Civitella del Tronto, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM1BBFD
Location: Abruzzo, Italy
Date Posted: 01/11/2025
Views: 0
Matthew Wade (1749 - 1829) was an Irish soldier and commander. In 1806 he commanded the fortress of Civitella in Abruzzo, during the French siege by Joachim Murat. Despite only 300 defenders, the French were repulsed from 27 March to 21 May, when Wade and his soldiers were forced to surrender and taken prisoner.
Wade was commemorated by a monumental tomb made by Bernardo Tacca and Tito Angelici and commissioned by Francis I of Bourbon. The memorial tomb was inside the Fort until 1861, when the Piedmontese, believing it to be a work of Canova, took it to Turin. Once its artistic paternity was established, it returned to Civitella after fifteen years of abandonment. Today it is located on the side of Corso Giuseppe Mazzini, in Civitella,
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