THE OSSARIO

During World War II 4,000 Italian, German and Japanese POWs were detained at Murchison. Those who died at Murchison were buried in the local cemetery but floods in 1956 did major damage to the graves. The Italian families in the municipality were persuaded by Luigi Gigliotti to pay for the building of a mausoleum - the Ossario.

Luigi also convinced authorities to bury all the Italian POWs and detainees who died in Australian prison camps in the mausoleum. The Ossario is the home of mass celebrations each year on Remembrance Day.

The mausoleum, completed in 1961, is in Italian style. It is built of Castlemaine stone with Roman roof tiles, a campanile and an altar of Italian marble. Each year, on Remembrance Day, mass is celebrated before a large gathering. There is also an Italian war memorial and chapel.

Elsewhere in the cemetery is the grave of King Charles Tattambo, the leader of the Goulburn tribe at the time of white arrival. He died in 1866. His son (the next leader) and widow were buried adjacent in 1874.