The opening ceremony

The inauguration of the door is held on June 10, 1923, in the presence of King Vittorio Emanuele III and the ministers of Education, Hon. Giovanni Gentile, and of Lands Liberated from the Enemy, Hon. Giovanni Giuriati. It should be recalled that Padua was experiencing a period of great visibility and celebrations at that time: on June 1, in fact, the President of the Council of Ministers, Benito Mussolini, had come to Padua for his first official visit for the inauguration of the Fifth Fiera Campionaria. Witness to his arrival is the signature affixed to the Municipal Roll, displayed at the Museum del Risorgimento e dell'Età Contemporanea in Padua.

Albo d’onore del Comune di Padova: visita di Benito Mussolini, 1 giugno 1923, MREC

Mussolini had also visited the University's prestigious central palace, delivering a speech at the Aula Magna, welcomed by city and academic authorities, as well as students.

A few days later, His Majesty the king also arrived at the Padua station, as he had done just over a year earlier, on May 15, 1922, arriving for the University's seventh centennial celebrations.

Amidst festive singing and applause, the king goes in front of the university palace to attend the ceremony for the inauguration of the Doorway. The first part of the ceremony takes place outside Palazzo del Bo, and then, after the unveiling of the monument, a moment "of the most moving and evocative" (Cronaca del direttore amministrativo, 1919-1940), moves on to the Ancient Courtyard.

La cerimonia d'inaugurazione (Cronaca del direttore amministrativo, 1919-1940), CSUPIl programma della cerimonia d'inaugurazione, AGAPd


A field mass is held there, around the tricolor-covered coffin, on which a goliardic hat was laid, drawn from the colors of the various Faculties. The ceremony is completed with the traditional ritual of the alzabara.

La cerimonia d'inaugurazione, BC

During the ceremony, the speeches given by Raffaele Cantoni, president of the student committee, and rector Lucatello appear significant; the latter, in particular, emphasizes the care and pride with which the newly erected monument, a symbol of a "war in defense of law and civilization," will be maintained.

The rite is thus qualified as a rite of glorification, and in that sense, in the intentions of the University and the community, the young people immortalized by the Portone non morituri manent.