Red Cross Anniversary: Torchlight Route Honors Henry Dunant

About five hundred volunteers and delegates from the Croce Rossa Italiana (Italian Red Cross) and Internazionale (International Red Cross) participated yesterday in the torchlight procession between Solferino and Castiglione.

The ceremony and the historic route

In the historic Piazza Castello in Solferino, just before 8 PM, thousands of volunteers gathered, many of whom were camped in Castiglione. Others arrived in Solferino specifically to take part in the ceremony that, in an ideal sense, aims to retrace the route taken by Henry Dunant on June 24, 1859, during and after the Battle of Solferino.

The bloody event that inspired him to conceive the important idea of the Red Cross. In addition to representatives from many Italian delegations, there were also European and worldwide presence. At 8 PM, the mayors of Solferino and Castiglione, together with Red Cross authorities, reached the Memorial for the lighting of the torches.

The torchlight procession and the conclusions

After this ceremony, they returned to Piazza Castello to start the torchlight procession: the route initially passed through the streets of Solferino’s center, with a stop at the monument of the fallen in Piazza Ossario, and then reached Castiglione along Via di Barche. In Castiglione, at Piazzale Olimpo, concluding speeches were delivered by the mayors and representatives of the Croce Rossa Italiana (Italian Red Cross) and Internazionale (International Red Cross).

The estimated attendance was around 5,000 people.