MONTE PIANA (M
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3.1 MISURINA - MONTE PIANA (m. 2324) MISURINA TO MOUNT PIANA tracks will lead to the very regular bends of a firm road, sometimes carved out THE LITTLE CHURCH OF MARIA SANTISSIMA DELLA FIDUCIA The Vallon dei Castrati (Gorge of the Castrated) owes its name to the fact that the of the rock. DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE shepherds of Pustertal used to take their flocks there to pasture. It is not one of The strong dry stone walls have survived the years. After a hollow, the path winds Today the little Chiesa di Santis- From the toll-booth to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (1,866 m) across the Rinbian- the easiest places on this mountain to find, going up its north-western rib and upwards and becomes steeper and steeper before entering a lateral valley to the sima Maria della Fiducia (“Our co valley. Descent: down the Mount Piana vehicular road as far as Forcella Al- gradually narrowing towards the notorious positions of Fosso Alpino (Mulde) and right. On the other side you will see the entrances to the Italian assault tunnels. Lady of Trust”) overlooks the site ta and then by the front-line paths to the lake at Antorno and back to the toll- Kuppe, marked on Austrian military maps by a simple “K”. If you go a little further, you can see the Kuppe K position, where two caverns of the Italian supply base during booth. Routes 108, 103, 111 (formerly 6) and 122. A solid mule-track went up it, connecting the complex road system leading to for machine-gun posts were excavated after it was taken by the Italians in Oc- the Great War. DIFFERENCE IN ALTITUD the installations on Croda dell’Arghena with the supply bases of the Tre Cime di tober 1916. In 1937 the veterans of the 55th Lavaredo plateau and Misurina. Returning to the marked path, keep left to get to the exposed crag along which About 650 metres Infantry, who had borne the ma- It was an important route for Italian reinforcements and supplies, supported by wound the system of Italian positions called Guardia Napoleone. Work on the jor burden of the battles on DURATION a cableway that was constructed after the war started. The Forcella dei Castrati strengthening of these installations continued throughout the war. Mount Piana, first expressed the 4-5 hours depression opens out at the top of the gorge, near the plateau at 2,272 metres. When the war finished, there were some huts in recesses on the ledge at the desire and the will to build a DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY This was a no-man’s-land at the beginning of the war, owing to the strange method end of the path. chapel on the spot. Floriana Dal- Walking route. in which the border had been established. There is a cavern with the mouth of a tunnel coming from what was known as l’Arma, who had been an officer in Path 108 on the left after the toll-booth follows the wartime-mule track, going the approach trench (Sappe) and there is also the entrance to the so-called as- that regiment, already had a project but it was interrupted by the outbreak of slightly downhill. sault tunnel, constructed when the Italians were considering conducting mine war- World War II. THE MAJOR ANGELO BOSE REFUGE After quite a long stretch, you will reach a flat clearing where there was a vil- fare. At the end of the war, praiseworthy efforts by General Giuseppe Ardi, Commenda- lage of barrack huts, a small field hospital, some kitchens and a small cemetery. The climb finishes near the wide depression of the Castrati pass and the memo- tore Silvio Monti and Dott. Amos Rossi were successful in raising funds for the In 1915, when Mount Piana became caught up in the battle zone, the Italian It is a beautiful spot: the glitteringly transparent water of Rio Rinbianco contrasts rial stone to Lieutenant Ruggero De Simone, killed on one of the last days of the construction of the church. Cavaliere De Francesch, the owner of the Bosi Refuge, High Command considered where the best logistic location would be for the with the incredible emerald green of the meadows, which are still pocked with war by a final blow from a nailed club that shattered his forehead. gave the land and on 17 July 1963, the site was blessed and the foundation stone area headquarters. They decided to set it up at the end of the road from Mis- shell-holes even almost 90 years after the end of the war. A sign (route 111) shows Cross the wide northern plateau to the refuge and the vehicular road for Misuri- laid in the presence of the Bishop of Belluno. The first stone of the church was a urina, where the mountain refuge stands today. the way to the gorge. na as far as Forcella Alta (2,000 m), where a path turning off slightly to the left block from the trenches, and later the stones for the walls were also taken from There is a footbridge over the river: go over it and very soon the hardly visible (the former Artillery Road) goes through the woods back to your starting point. the front line area. Commendatore Monti, whose father had built the road to When the exhausting positional war began, the need for reinforcements grad- Mount Piana, donated the material for the foundations and the soldiers of the ually increased, so that this base became more and more important and had 2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Tridentino Brigade and the Pioneers of to be strengthened and better organised. the 7th Alpine Regiment helped with the building. The consecration was delayed The first installations, mostly tents and makeshift encampments, were replaced Fornari A. Alfarè I. in September 1966 by a catastrophic flood that damaged roads and other access by wooden huts and later on even by spacious brick buildings. The army built routes. a small group of barrack buildings in the hollow where the southern slope A bronze bell hangs in the small belfry, in memory of all the Italian and Austri- forms a semi-circle, and walls were constructed on the steep hillsides below an dead. The interior is simple: in the foreground stands a sweet image of Our to enlarge the flat area. After this, storerooms, kitchens, a big field hospital and Lady of the Trenches, attended by an Austrian and an Italian soldier. Mass is cel- strong shelters were added. ebrated in the church on the first Sunday of September every year; there are prob- Heavy Austrian guns often fired at this important strategic position, so the Istituto Geografico Militare - Aut. n. 6109 del 12.10.2005 ably no more Great War veterans in the congregation, but the memory is still alive army then built underground shelters and dug a long tunnel to the front line and ever-present. positions on the top of the mountain. After the Great War, the underground networks were used by large numbers MAJOR ANGELO BOSI of walkers sheltering from bad weather. Owing to the elements and lack of The plaque in memory of Lieutenant De Simone near the Castrati Monte Piana by Nazareno Meneghetti maintenance, these precious places of refuge rapidly deteriorated, and by the pass. Trenches visible in the foreground. late nineteen-twenties the area was a desolate sight, scattered with heaps of Major Bosi settled in at a high point to the east of the Carducci pyramid, whence waste materials. It was urgently Mortar positions, reconstructed in the 1980s by the Friends of the Dolomites. he would have a view of the whole operation as soon as the first rays of the sun necessary to construct a build- appeared, paying no heed to the fact that he was on the same mountain wall as ing. Captain Agosto Martinelli Fornari A. the reinforcements and in danger because he was easily visible. The first rays of Bianchi, a war veteran, decided the 17 July sun illuminated Sergeant Amedeo Boenco of Oderzo as he hurled him- to build one of his own on the self at the enemy at the head of the 4th platoon of the 9th Company. Bosi saw site where the Italian HQ had him. Those who knew this leader closely may have had some idea of the feelings stood. He chose a position just that vibrated in his being. All his life as a man, as a scholar and as an officer, all behind the building that had ac- P the effort that he had put into making his post a mission, into transfusing him- commodated the General Staff. self into his men, were on the point of being crowned by success: his battalion In 1932 the mountain refuge had passed the test ... His tormented nights, the nagging worry that the dead weight was opened and dedicated to the Mortar of the inveterate habits of peacetime would hamper memory of Major Angelo Bosi, trench. the men’s zeal, that their offensive spirit would not Alfarè I. who died during the terrible Roverto Historical War Museum 123/156. Lake Misurina, be able to overcome the ancient instinct of self- battle of 17 July 1915. in the background, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. preservation, all vanished: his battalion was attack- The artillery cavern under the summit of Mount Piana. ing ... World War II again put a brutal stop to tourism in the Mount Piana area, which Through his binoculars he could not make out in- had started to flourish.