Migrant Monument, Glynde: In the Adelaide City region of South Australia

Drive past the Glynde Hotel and you encounter an eye-catching monument - a talking point in Adelaide's northeastern suburbs which pays tribute to the millions of people who've made their way from distant shores to Australia. Maria Gagliardi explains:

“The important thing about it is everybody's got a view. You can't drive past it without having a view. But at the end of the day it's built with the idea of future generations looking back and reflecting on what they've produced.”

The swirling spire of the Migrant Monument Museum makes a bold statement. Around the perimeter are the compass settings for the migrants who came from North and South, East and West - all aspiring to a better life. People like Maria from Calabria:

“I didn't want to stay in Italy. I didn't want to stay there. All my friends started to go Argentina and other places. I didn't want to stay there - I wanted a new and different life. So I just wrote a letter to my brother here to send me the proper documents for me to come here. But my mother was against it and she said we all go or no-body goes!”

So in 1956 a determined 17 year old girl from Calabria ultimately provided the impetus to bring mum, dad, two sisters and a brother to a new life in Adelaide. It was a life of hard work in a strange country, but over time, came new friends and a life long partner.

“I happened to go to a church at Newton. And he was there.”

The museum tells the story of a young bloke named Giorgio Gagliardi from Naples who married Maria and how their family grew. She worked as a dressmaker, he as a market gardener and then in the concrete and terrazzo business. The photos for the Gagliardi story and the rest have come from family collections in homes scattered throughout Adelaide. And when you sit and share a coffee with people like Giorgio and Maria, you find out how little they had when they came half way across the world.

“That's a photo of me and my little cousin. That's the only photo I have from my country before I came here.”

The monument has been described as architecturally brave - which means that some people love it and some people hate it. But perhaps the final word on the Migrant Monument Museum should go to Maria.

“It's a beautiful thing. It's very elegant. It’s Beautiful…”

The Migrant Monument Museum, with IT Kiosk is on the corner of Lower North East Road and Monacute Roads at Campbelltown. It's open on Sundays from two until four and is free.