Press dossier

The First World War has left many traces in the mountainous areas of Lombardy. Nei gruppi The Western end of the front of fighting between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire ran through the mountain groups of Ortles-Cevedale, the Tonale and Adamello between 1915 and 1918.

Today these mountains are a destination for tourists and hikers looking for silence and contact with nature, but just over a century ago, they were the scene of fighting. Battles were fought in the summer and in the winter at very high altitudes, with stationings at more than 3000 metres above sea level.

Even then the conflict took the name of “White War”, and thanks to the particular environment at high altitudes, there are still many traces of the time spent by the soldiers of both armies on these peaks.

Trenches, artillery stationings, tunnels for the shelter of men and means, wood and stone huts, military walkways and mule tracks today form an extraordinary open-air museum.

To re-evaluate this priceless heritage, the Lombardy Region and the Stelvio National Park have begun an important and innovative project of promoting the Lombard heritage of the Great War.

The first tangible result of this project was the creation of nine experiential itineraries (six in Alta Valtellina and three in Alta Valle Camonica as well as seven in the nearby Parco dell’Adamello) which allow visiting the Park in a new, exciting and interactive way: with any smartphone, by downloading the app “Oltre le tracce della storia” (“Beyond the traces of history”) it is possible to hear a historical and environmental description of the places in the voice of the actor and writer Giuseppe Cederna, while the actor Matteo Chioatto relates the events of the war and a series of accounts from the period.

In addition to eliminating the visual impact of the traditional informative panels, which force the hiker to stop and read them, this technology which is now within everybody’s reach, allows the encounter with fragments of history and nature, understanding unobtrusive details and looking around making a leap back in time, while being swept away by the fascinating narration.

The app is also available in English and German.

Other initiatives which have been completed are the documentary photographic exhibition and the book “Un museo a cielo aperto. I luoghi della prima guerra mondiale in Alta Valtellina” (“An open-air museum. The places of the First World War in Alta Valtellina”) which document some of the sites of the Great War of greatest historical and landscape interest in the protected area and in Alta Valtellina. Thanks to the photos by the photographer Elio della Ferrera, the places of the Great War are shown both as evidence of the very great historical value and as elements of a constructed landscape of which they have become an integral and characteristic part.

Lastly, the website www.grandeguerrainaltavaltellina.it is under completion.

In addition, every year, between May and October, the Stelvio National Park, with its teams of seasonal employees, carries out a great deal of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance in the area. In many cases, the work is on the dense network of paths which often wind along the century-old military routes created during the First World War. One example is the recent restoration of the spectacular 96 steps which develops along a variant of the military mule track which leads to the Cima Gavia.

The topic of “Great War” corresponds fully to the opinion, shared by the Lombardy Region and the Stelvio National Park, of the importance of promoting the historical/cultural heritage linked to the Great War in the area of Alta Valtellina, where battles were fought at the highest altitudes in the history of Europe.
A mountain war dictated by military reasons but also by the prestige of conquering areas that had never been inhabited before and which came with a cost of great sacrifice and human losses. It is worthwhile preserving these traces and memories.

Bormio, 30 October 2023