Canberra: AWM … Hall of Memory

From the museum, we continued to the heart of the Australian War Memorial … the Hall of Memory.

To reach the hall, one must walk through the Commemorative Area with its reflection pool and eternal flame, and the roll of honor on either side … decorated with poppies.

The hall is where one finds the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier. All of the decorative elements are symbolic in one way or another — the 15 stained glass windows depict servicemen and servicewomen from WWI … each representing a quality such as devotion, candor, sacrifice, and more; mosaics of servicemen and servicewomen of WWII … representing a soldier, a nurse, a sailor, and an airman; pillars representing the four elements … air, fire, earth, and water. The dome — Byzantine in style — is the most recognizable aspect of the AWM.

As we’ve found in other state memorials, it is a place of solitude and reflection. Czytaj więcej