The Strada delle 52 Gallerie (or Strada della Prima Armata) – the road with 52 tunnels (or the road of the First Army) – is an extraordinary work of military engineering which leads from Bocchetta Campiglia to the Porte del Pasubio near the Achille Papa shelter and which enabled troops perched on the Pasubio to be resupplied by a daring route sheltered from enemy action.
A fascinating route across the southern slope of the mountain, sheltered from the fire of the Austro-Hungarian artillery, characterised by spires, deep gullies and rocky vertical walls. On Colle Bellavista, you can visit the Ossario del Pasubio war memorial, a majestic monument dedicated to the memory of the
dead of the First World War. It contains the remains of 5,146 Italian soldiers and 40 Austrians. Their bones are on display in many of the reliquaries in which they are kept.
The tour operator suggests:
Excursion on foot along the Strada delle 52 Gallerie, visit to the trenches in the Italian/Austrian border territory of the Vicentine Pre-Alps (Alpine guide on request), packed lunch, Sopressa salami tasting (a De.Co product of the Valli del Pasubio), overnight stay in B&B double room (overnight stay in a shelter on request).
N.B. The excursion takes place in a mountain environment and therefore requires adequate physical preparation, mountain gear with boots, wet-weather gear and sunhat.
Cost from € 85,00 a head.
Emilio Lussu, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Musil, Franz Kafka, Eugenio Montale, Mario Rigoni Stern. Many are the world-famous writers who have told of this plateau which lived through all 41 months of the Great War on the front line. Today this really is a place of memories, the ideal location for all lovers of history and for those who want to go and discover the remains and the evidence of the Great War. In fact, wherever fortified paths, lines of trenches, military posts, encampments and defensive structures for garrisons can be found. On the occasion of the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, we are offering a thematic route in the area of Tonezza del Cimone.
You will be accompanied by a guide who specialises in the Great War on a journey of discovery of these places rich in history, which envisages a visit to the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery, to the Monte Cimone War Memorial and to the Great War Visitor Centre.
The tour operator suggests:
An overnight stay in a double room with breakfast at Tonezza di Cimone, welcome drink, entry to the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery, to the Monte Cimone War Memorial and the Great War Visitor Centre and dinner based on products typical of the chosen venues. Cost from € 100,00 a head.
Specialised guide on request who will vary
depending on numbers
For all photography enthusiasts, an evocative route that retraces the trails and locations of the Great War, in an area that experienced all 41 months of the conflict on the front line. Trails, fortresses, trenches: up here everything tells of the Great War. The route is worked out so as to pause in locations of greatest interest for photography. Evidence, traces and glimpses to be immortalised for what may be considered a real self-made documentary.
The tour takes place at Arsiero and envisages following the road taken by the Alpini, the visit to the Cimitero Monumentale cemetery at Arsiero, to the Forte Campomolon and to the Forte Casaratti. The next day there is an excursion to Monte Cengio, Salto dei Granatieri.
The tour operator suggests:
Visit to the locations of the Great War (with nature guide on request). Visit to the Cimitero Monumentale at Arsiero, overnight stay in double room with B&B service in the area of Arsiero, dinner on the basis of traditional produce, excursion the following day to Monte Cengio along the route of the Salto dei Granatieri.
N.B. The second day's excursion will take place in a mountain environment and therefore requires adequate physical preparation, mountain gear with boots, wet weather gear and sunhat.
Cost from € 88,00 a head.
The itinerary on the trail of the Great War in the Grappa area provides for visits to the most significant places of the first great conflict. Places which were the backdrop to battles and already have much to tell after more than a century.
Leaving Cismon del Grappa for a route on foot that allows you to retrace the paths of the Great War and reach the Cima Grappa War Memorial, a cemetery which is found on the mountain top and holds the remains of over 12 thousand Italian soldiers who fell on the Grappa itself. You continue via Forte Tombion, one of the earliest fortifications of the Italian defensive system which was built in the Veneto after its incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy. The fort was part of the Brenta-Cismon defensive line and was built in 1885 and was equipped with four 75A guns. During the First World War it was evacuated and was not even damaged, while during the Second World War it was used as an explosives depot by the Nazi army after 8 September 1943.
Near the fort is an old military fortification, the Covolo di Butistone, which previously blockaded the Canale del Brenta and was used as a military defence until Forte Tombion was built. Worth a visit to unite history with knowledge of the district's natural heritage is the Museum of the Covolo and the Great War.
An itinerary rich in evidence, still partly intact, of the First and Second World Wars, in one of the areas that was certainly among those most marked by the conflicts, which is completed by a visit to the Museum of the Alpini, the research centre for the historic mountain troops.
The tour operator suggests:
Excursion along the trail that leads to the summit of Monte Grappa and visit to the Museum of the Alpini (history and nature guide on request), packed lunch, overnight stay in double room with B&B service, traditional dinner with local produce. Cost from € 125,00 a head in double room.
The Vicentine Pre-Alps: an open-air museum which unites the considerable historical evidence of trenches and battles, of the living and the dead, to the beauties of nature. Everything here radiates memories, everything is a historical record regarding the event which perhaps more than any other affected this area: the First World War.
The itinerary is worked out specifically for those who want to unite a passion for nature with one for history, along historical walking and trails that have a lot to tell. You set out along the History Trail of Campogrosso, a straightforward walking route of primary importance for historical and natural features, which links the remains of military artifacts of the Great War.
The path is part of the system of the open-air Ecomuseum of the Great War in the Vicentine Pre-Alps. Among the quantity of evidence, the defensive works organised in the summer of 1916 can be seen. Many information boards along the route mark the emplacements, observation posts, tunnels, bunkers, trenches, military roads and places that saw bloody battles during the First World War.
Even Monte Civillina is a place that is very rich from the point of view of evidence of the Great War. Many emplacements have been found on its summit. Monte Civillina, with its central, elevated position prevented movement in the surrounding valleys, raising itself as a sort of natural defence work. All the ridge is scattered with emplacements, trenches, machine gun nests, and bunkers. The so-called sentry path, the "Sentinello", rises steeply and from it various paths that lead to various artifacts, almost all of which can be visited.
This journey to the origins of war ends with a visit to one of the places of particular historic interest: the German Second World War bunker at the Parco delle Fonti Centrali di Recoaro.
A treatment at the Terme di Recoaro spa can be combined with the itinerary, and a dinner with tasting menu including gnocchi pasta with fioreta cheese, a typical De.Co. product of the Province of Vicenza.
The tour operator suggests:
Excursion along the "Sentinello" path (history and nature guide on request) with packed lunch, overnight stay in double room with B&B service, traditional dinner with local produce. Cost from € 120,00 a head in double room.
