Giuseppe Cerisola

Cerisola, born in Varigotti, was nicknamed “Carnera” for his robust physique and “The Australian” because he lived abroad for many years. While a sailor in the Italian navy’s Pacific fleet during World War II, he was captured by the British and imprisoned in Australia, where he remained until the mid-1970s, working as a farmer.

In 1976 he returned to Varigotti and, due to his excellent swimming skills, saved a person from drowning off the coast. He then memorialized this incident in a brightly painted cement autobiographical monument that Cerisola created close to his garden: it is an organically-shaped wall with lifesaving buoys and other nautical symbols, terracotta tiles, niches, and vitrines. Several inscriptions in English and Italian, as well as other newspaper articles, are also included; in these inscriptions Cerisola has recorded narratives of other people he saved in other seas all over the world, and also his attitude toward life: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

The monument, still in good condition, is located along a scenic trail (marked with an X) that joins the Genoese tower of Varigotti to the Capo Noli mountain, near the church of San Lorenzo.

~Gabriele Mina

www.costruttoridibabele.net





Not Exact Address
Varigotti, Liguria, Italy
Latitude/Longitude: 44.182202 / 8.402438

Visiting Information

The monument, still in good condition, is located along a scenic trail (marked with an X) that joins the Genoese tower of Varigotti to the Capo Noli mountain, near the church of San Lorenzo

We welcome visitors' comments about this site. If you have additional information you feel should be included, or have questions or comments, please share your thoughts with us here.