Lucca's spot

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Gotich Line - A new possible tour ?

The other day I met up with Debora, at a really nice cafĂ© in Borgo Giannotti called Angolo Dolce, which makes some of the best pastries (so it’s definitely worth a visit!), to discuss about an unusual tour which would be different from the typical destinations. Dedicated to those who have already been several times to the main attractions, like Siena, Florence and Cinque Terre, and would like to change and discover something off the beaten track. Because there are a lot of  people who come back to visit us many times over again, we need to offer something new and uncommon, so they can discover some of our ‘secrets’.. places that only the locals and in some cases, not even they, know of.
So here is something that might take your interest. It would be great if you could let us know what you think of this tour and if you believe it could be interesting and popular.
 In 2008 the famous movie-director Spike Lee, tried to captivate in his film ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ a fraction of the war that took place in the Tuscan valleys.
Take a trip back in time discovering some of the last traces of the Second World War.
On the 8th of September 1943,  the German army occupied Italy, preparing to counterattack the arrival of the Anglo-American troupes advancing  from the south of the country. While in the South, precisely in the Montecassino and Garigliano area, the Germans were fortifying the Gustav Line, in the North-Center the Wehrmacht Commando started to localize the strategic spots  to be defended.
Under the orders of the TODT Organization (from the name of its creator , the engineer Fritz Todt), which was specialized in hard labor, thousands of Italian workers unwillingly started to build a strong fortification channel from Viareggio to Rimini, along the 320 km c. that crossed the country, from the Tirreno to the Adriatic coast. Within this fortification they created an antitank wall called the Gothic Line. The mountain chain of the Appennino was the perfect habitat to create a defensive system. Along with the wall, bunkers, pillboxes, trenches and moats where hidden amongst the thick vegetation .
In the area called Garfagnana, there are still well-kept bunkersgun emplacementstracksantitank valleys, etc. This site is the only part in Italy where it is possible to see the last standing parts of the Gothic Line and therefore represents an important documentation and National Trust, which must be maintained and kept alive.
Together we will follow the footsteps of the war that took place in one of the most beautiful and picturesque Tuscan Valleys and discover the last parts of the Gothic Line, which still stand to tell this chapter of history. Discover the hidden bunkers, galleries, tracks, gun emplacements  and the pieces of history kept within them, trying to imagine what these soldiers and civilians went through and how their lives were changed forever. Find out how it altered the history and lives of the local villages and their people, and while walking along the winding cobbled roads and stone houses, notice the still visible scars of that war, the bullet holes on the facades, the alteration of the surrounding valleys caused by bomb attacks.
Finally, listen to the stories of those who still remember and can never forget how they managed to survive through those hard times.