ITINERARIES
THE GOTHIC LINE
Just a few days before the 8th of September 1943, a fierce column of German troops, tanks and cannons passed through Vergato heading south, sweeping away any hope of peace that the signing of the armistice between Italy and the Allies may have generated in the rest of the country. On the 27th of November Vergato was bombed with the aim of interrupting road and rail links between the north and the front-lines. A daytime air raid by the allies caused 52 deaths and about a hundred casualties: the target was meant to be the bridges on the Reno River, however a populated area was hit, on a market day. Following several attacks the town was slowly evacuated and in October 1944 the scene saw a clear division: the Germans went to ground in the mountains of Castelnuovo (a hamlet of Vergato) and Monte Pero, while the allies were in Stanco, Grizzana and Monte Salvaro. Vergato, at the centre of this area, suffered frequent rounding up of civilians. In 2002 the Council of Vergato received the Gold Medal for Civil Merit for the suffering endured in the numerous bombings and for the solidarity shown towards those evacuated.
MONTE PERO
The Monte Pero massif (759 m) towers over Vergato and was fortified by the Germans from the autumn of 1944 onwards, as one of the mainstays of the last defensive line on the Apennines to the south of Bologna. During the ally attack in April 1945, the entire area was bombed. The attack took place on two fronts: while the artillery dealt with the mountain, the Germans tried to resist in Cereglio and on Monte Pero. The fighting continued until the afternoon of the 15th of April and ended on the morning of the 16th with the occupation of Vergato and the capture of the summit of Monte Pero and Monte Radicchio. The road to Bologna was clear. This itinerary lasts for about 3 hours and you can visit several trenches, mortar emplacements, communication trenches and shelters, as well as the interesting natural grottos that were used by soldiers seeking shelter. (For more information: Guerra e resistenza sulla linea gotica tra Modena e Bologna 1943-1945 – War and Resistance on the gothic line between Modena and Bologna 1943-1945, Edizioni Artestampa).
