From a line just behind the front to the site of bloody battles...
Visit and make sure it never happens again
From a line just behind the front to the site of bloody battles: the First World War had a huge impact on the Prosecco Superiore Hills. Pictures and stories from the time are kept alive today, so that we never forget.
The historical sites now form the First World War Ecomuseum. Among the essential places to visit is the Italian War Memorial on Monte Grappa, which is the resting place of General Giardino and many of the Italian soldiers who died in the conflict. On Monte Palon, you can follow a “Commemorative Path” that leads from a refuge to the top of the mountain through the remains of trenches, tunnels, barracks and emplacements. Montello is another area of great interest. It was the site of a big offensive in June 1918 known as the Second Battle of the Piave River, during which flying ace Francesco Baracca crashed to the ground.
Then there was the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October 1918, when Italian troops broke through the enemy lines on the Piave River and liberated Vittorio Veneto. In an outpouring of public compassion immediately after the conflict, a small monument was built on a islet that came to be known as the “Island of the Dead” because so many bodies carried by the Piave River had run aground on it. For strategic reasons, the Austro-Hungarian commanders needed quick, safe communications between the Belluno Valley and the Vittorio Veneto area, i.e. the places behind the lines in the Grappa and Piave zones. Partly following the route of a steep medieval path, in just 100 days (between 1 February and 1 June 1918) Austrian pioneers audaciously built a road featuring five overlapping hairpin bends in tunnels. It’s a real masterpiece of engineering and today it’s particularly popular with cyclists looking for a challenge.
