The biggest ringing bell in the world was the brainchild of the Roveretan Fr

"Maria Dolens", Rovereto's monumental bell, tolls every evening at nightfall in the hope that Man, in memory of the Fallen of every war and every nation in the world, may find the path that leads to Peace.

The bell of peace in Rovereto

The biggest ringing bell in the world was the brainchild of the Roveretan Fr. Antonio Rossaro, to honour the Fallen of all wars and to invoke peace and brotherhood amongst all the peoples of the world. It was cast in Trento on the 30.th of October 1924 with bronze from cannons donated by the nations involved in the First World War. It was inaugurated on 24.th May 1925 under the name "Maria Dolens". Since the sound proved (insatisfactory, the bell was recast in Verona on the 13.th of June 1939 and returned to Rovereto on the 26.th of May 1940, resuming its noble mission of peace and universal brotherhood. On the 31.st of August 1960 due to a deep and irreparable crack the bell stopped ringing and on the 1.st of October 1964, thanks to the generous assistance of the Lions

Club of Italy, it was recast at the Capanni Foundery at Castelnovo ne' Monti (Reggio Emilia). It was blessed in Rome in St. Peter's Square by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on the 31.st of October 1965 and on the 4.th of November the bell returned in triumph to Rovereto and was placed on Miravalle Hill. On the body of the bell of "Maria Dolens" are engraved the autographed comments of the Supreme Pontiff Pius XII "With peace nothing is lost. Everything is to be lost through war." John XXIII: "In pace hominum ordinata concordia et tranquilla libertas." The bell rings out every evening tolling a hundred times in remembrance of the Fallen of all wars and of all the nations of the world. Rovereto's Bell of Peace has i become an international meeting point for different religions, cultures and nations seeking ever deeper, constant meditation on the themes of peace, tollerance and human rights.