Italy 1943–1945
Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, Ortona
Church
The story
In this damaged church on 25 December 1943 the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada held their Christmas dinner in the middle of the battle, companies coming back from the line in turns while the fighting went on a few hundred metres away. The dinner became one of Canada's best-known war stories.
What to look for
The medieval church on Via Don Bosco, south of the old centre, with its 14th-century portal; much of the rest was rebuilt after the war.
Plan your visit
Usually closed except for services · view from outside
Nearby sites
- Ortona old town and MUBA battle museum · under 1 km
- Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, San Donato · 2 km
- Casa Berardi, Contrada Alboreto (Ortona) · 4 km
- Sangro River War Cemetery, Torino di Sangro · 18 km
- French Military Cemetery, Venafro · 100 km
- German War Cemetery, Caira · 103 km
All 96 sites in Italy 1943–1945 →
Into Europe: Italy 1943–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The places of the Allied campaign in Italy, from the Sicily landings of July 1943 through Salerno, the Winter Line, Ortona, Cassino and Anzio, Rome, the Gothic Line and the final battles on the Senio and the Po in April 1945.
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