The statue of the Madonna and the votive altar
The delivery of the statue of the Madonna to the Navy: 18 December 1955. A ceremony was held to place the statue of the Madonna on the monument, in the notch of the rudder. Commissioned by Msgr. Nicola Margiotta, archbishop of Brindisi, at the end of the Marian Year 1954, it was donated by the religious association Figlie di Maria "Ali azzurre" of Brindisi and, as its epigraph reads, placed "as a vigilant sentinel of our sea, of our port...".
The statue of the Holy Virgin of the Rays, made of a cement alloy, 4.5 metres tall and weighing about 10 tons, was built by the workers of the Naval Military Arsenal of Taranto.
Inauguration of the votive altar to those lost at sea: 18 July 1965. Defence Minister Giulio Andreotti inaugurated the votive altar on the lower square of the monument, in front of the crypt. The altar was donated by the Province of Brindisi with the support of other public bodies; the president of the executive committee was the lawyer Vincenzo Palma.
Many military and civil authorities attended. After the lighting of the perpetual flame, the memorial slabs to the sailors lost at sea in the Second World War and to all those awarded the navy's gold medal were unveiled inside the crypt.
