Route 3: from Alpe Manera to Ponte Tresa (Journeys inside a trench)
The third route begins in Alpe Manera, above Ghirla.
The first artillery redoubts were positioned against a military road near the Bogione stream. The extra cannons were kept here and, if needed, they would be transported to the attack emplacement on the front line. Further down the road is the first howitzer battery made up of 4 posts, each one with an escape route. Each battery had a recognitive symbol and a cement die, a topographic reference point. Beside the battery there is a single house which, as well as offering lodgings to non-commissioned officers, would have served as a deposit for weapons, ammunition and victualling.
When you reach the pine grove of Monte Marzio you will see a spectacular panorama of Ponte Tresa, an extremely important strategy point on which all the artillery posts of the area were aimed.
The first trench, with a characteristic curvilinear trajectory, appears on the flanks of the mountain; it was positioned in a manner that made it possible to shatter raking fire and limit the damage that a possible blast wave caused by bombing may have caused. The artillery posts appear every 100 metres. The trench is interrupted by stairs for counterattacks, areas for storing ammunition or victualling, niches for hosting off-duty guards or the wounded. There were toilets served by a water system which, making use of the slope, collected the deposits in piping. Hygiene was one of the most pressing worries, as can be seen even by the numerous small fountains.
From this point the route continues towards the observation point on Monte Marzio, open both towards Ponte Tresa and towards Lugano, and protected by fortifications. From this post the non-commissioned officers would consult the precise maps supplied by the Florence geographical institute to define the shooting co-ordinates, communicating them to the attack post by way of a network of telephone cables.
Heading down towards Ponte Tresa you will see the Agra rest home in Switzerland, where Austrian-German espionage for this area was concentrated. It was from here that the enemies, observing the imposing construction of the Cadorna line, decided to give up the attack.
The first artillery redoubts were positioned against a military road near the Bogione stream. The extra cannons were kept here and, if needed, they would be transported to the attack emplacement on the front line. Further down the road is the first howitzer battery made up of 4 posts, each one with an escape route. Each battery had a recognitive symbol and a cement die, a topographic reference point. Beside the battery there is a single house which, as well as offering lodgings to non-commissioned officers, would have served as a deposit for weapons, ammunition and victualling.
When you reach the pine grove of Monte Marzio you will see a spectacular panorama of Ponte Tresa, an extremely important strategy point on which all the artillery posts of the area were aimed.
The first trench, with a characteristic curvilinear trajectory, appears on the flanks of the mountain; it was positioned in a manner that made it possible to shatter raking fire and limit the damage that a possible blast wave caused by bombing may have caused. The artillery posts appear every 100 metres. The trench is interrupted by stairs for counterattacks, areas for storing ammunition or victualling, niches for hosting off-duty guards or the wounded. There were toilets served by a water system which, making use of the slope, collected the deposits in piping. Hygiene was one of the most pressing worries, as can be seen even by the numerous small fountains.
From this point the route continues towards the observation point on Monte Marzio, open both towards Ponte Tresa and towards Lugano, and protected by fortifications. From this post the non-commissioned officers would consult the precise maps supplied by the Florence geographical institute to define the shooting co-ordinates, communicating them to the attack post by way of a network of telephone cables.
Heading down towards Ponte Tresa you will see the Agra rest home in Switzerland, where Austrian-German espionage for this area was concentrated. It was from here that the enemies, observing the imposing construction of the Cadorna line, decided to give up the attack.
