Alla scoperta del Bunker Soratte - visita completa

Welcome back to the canal, today we'll take you on a discovery of the Soratte Bunker. The bunker was built in 1937 by the Rome Army Corps of Engineers at Mussolini's instigation. It's a network of tunnels inside the mountain that extends for approximately 4 km. Behind the roof of the Breda weapons factory, it served as an air raid shelter for the General Staff, one of the largest and most impressive military engineering feats in Europe. When the German Supreme Command in the South was bombed in Frascati after September 8, 1943, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, its leader, ordered the headquarters to be moved to the Soratte. It remained there undisturbed until early June 1944. The bunker also withstood the bombing of May 12, 1944, carried out by two Allied B-17 squadrons. Wehrmacht troops waited until June 5, when British and American tanks entered Rome. Before leaving, they flooded the tunnels with gasoline and set them on fire. After the end of the war, the complex remained abandoned until 1967, when, under the aegis of NATO, a fallout shelter was built there. However, it was never completed and abandoned in 1972. The bunker that housed the German command is managed by the "Bunker Soratte" cultural association and is part of an ambitious project by the municipality of Sant'Oreste called "Percorso della memoria" (Memory Path). The aim is to create a sort of open-air museum throughout the town through the restoration of former barracks, ruins, and other places where the scars of the 1944 Allied bombing are still clearly visible. After visiting the bunker, which unfortunately requires photography and filming, you can take the internal train from the station and take a tour of approximately 2.5 km through the underground tunnels, combining a historical journey and immersive virtual reality (VR) viewing through headsets to relive the experience. The Nazi era and the history of the bunker, ideal for groups and families, with regular departures and tickets available on-site, without reservations for the train itself. Enjoy the ride!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------