Forte Cimo Grande

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forte Cimo Grande - throat side

Forte Cimo Grande is a former Italian fortress on Monte Baldo in the province of Verona . It was completed in 1914 and was one of the most modern long-range combat works designed to protect Verona .

location

The plant was built on a rocky promontory south of Monte Cimo Grande at 909  m slm in the Spiazzi district of the municipality of Caprino Veronese on the south-eastern edge of Monte Baldo. It is located directly on the demolition to the Adige Valley, which is about 750 m below .

history

The plant was built between 1905 and 1914. It was part of the barrier belt created by Italy north of Verona, which was supposed to stop an Austro-Hungarian breakthrough across the Adige Valley and the adjacent mountains. With the Forte Bocchetta Naole and some other open artillery positions, it formed the Bocchetta barrier group on the right of the Adige with a little more than 30 guns. Together with Forte Masua to the southeast on the opposite side of the valley, Forte Cimo Grande was intended to block the Adige Valley in particular.

It represented the most modern Italian long-range combat plant of the entire defense section. The plant had a separate battery and accommodation block, in contrast to the facilities named after the genius officer Enrico Rocchi , in which both areas were housed in a single casemate block.

Like the other fortresses of the Sperrgruppe, it was far behind the front line after the Italian entry into the war in May 1915, so that it played no role in the course of the First World War . After the end of the war, the facility and the property belonging to it were sold to a private charitable foundation. This set up a holiday home for children with lung disease in the former factory barracks and in the accommodation block , which was used from 1924. During the Second World War , the facility was seized by the Gioventù italiana del littorio, a youth organization of the fascist party . After the war, it came back into the possession of the foundation, which used the former accommodation block as a bed until 1954, while the former factory barracks was renovated and still serves as a holiday home.

description

Forte Cimo Grande was cleverly built to suit local conditions on the edge of the slope that descends from Monte Baldo to the Adige Valley. It consists of a battery block and a plant area about 30 m lower as well as the barracks located about 200 m southwest of the lower plant area. On the west and north sides, the plant is surrounded by an approximately 6 m deep and 8 m wide works trench, which is heavily overgrown and therefore not noticeable at first glance.

The reinforcement road also ends at the lower factory area on the throat side , which is surrounded by a walled courtyard area and is located directly on the steep drop to the Adige Valley. To the left of the entrance is the staircase with a crenellated wall that leads to an infantry position on the west side of the complex. The valley side can be divided into two clearly separated areas. In the east of the Adige Valley, the accommodations were located in a two-storey barrack-like building, as it nestled up against the rock face and was otherwise not further protected. The wing, which is adjoined to the west and has a single storey, clearly stands out from this, in which the guardroom and other supply facilities were located, which was built from thick block masonry. Because the kavernierte powder chamber joined at the far west end, with a walled Poterne is connected to the Fort. At the junction of the two parts of the factory is the postern with countless steps to the 30 m higher battery block. At the beginning of the staircase to the left is the ammunition chamber, in which the artillery shells were prepared for use and assembled before they were transported to the battery block by a freight elevator via the same postern.

The battery block, which is higher up on the hilltop, can be reached via a mule track to the west that runs along the edge of the works ditch. A bridge over the ditch leads to the concrete roof, on which there are numerous antennas and transmitter systems. Of the four gun wells for the 149 mm guns, three are still available, and a transmitter is located on the far eastern well. The adjacent observation dome of the artillery observer was also bricked up. Stairs lead from the remaining three gun wells to the battery block about 4 m below. The five armored domes alone protruded from the battery block erected in the hilltop.

  • Entrance with a crenellated wall and ascent to the infantry position

  • Two-storey accommodation block

  • Posterne to the powder chamber

  • Hood with overgrown gun wells

  • Step down from an armored dome to the battery block

  • View of the Adige Valley and the Veronese Klause with Monte Pastello

Armament

In 1915 the fort was armed with:

as well as with:

  • 4 guns 149G
  • 4 cannons 87B

in field positions.

literature

  • Enrico Ballottari, Michele Mari: La rete dei Forti della Val D'Adige. Proposta per una valorizzazione paesistico-ambientale e turistica dell'area. Politecnico di Milano Scuola di architettura e società - sede di Mantova a. a. 2011 - 2012. PDF
  • Centro Turistico Giovanile Animatori Culturali ed Ambientali “Monte Baldo” - Caprino: Guida ai forti austriaci ed italiani del Monte Baldo, della Val d'Adige e di Pastrengo. Signposts to the Austrian and Italian forts of Monte Baldo, the Adige Valley and Pastrengo. CTCACA “Monte Baldo”, Caprino 1994.
  • Leonardo Malatesta: I forti italiani del Veronese dal 1860 al 1918: piani operativi e storia bellica. In: Atti e memorie dell'accademia di agricoltura scienze e lettere di Verona Vol. CLXXXVI (aa 2012–2013 e 2013–2014). Accademia di agricoltura scienze e lettere di Verona, Verona 2015. PDF
  • Fiorenzo Meneghelli, Massimiliano Valdinoci: Il sistema difensivo della Lessinia: il recupero di Forte Santa Viola. Orion, Verona 2010, ISBN 978-88-903970-1-1 .
  • Fiorenzo Meneghelli: La Grande Guerra nel Veronese: le opere fortificate dal Baldo alla Lessinia. In: Federico Melotto (ed.): Una città di retrovia: Verona nella Grande Guerra (1914–1918). Cierre Edizioni, Verona 2018 ISBN 978-88-8314-943-6
  • Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico: L'esercito italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915-1918). Volume II bis (documenti): Le operazioni del 1915. Ufficio Storico, Rome 1929.
  • Ulrike Weiss: Austrian and Italian fortresses east of Lake Garda 1849–1907. Vehling Verlag, Graz 2007, ISBN 978-3-85333-133-0 .

Web links

Commons : Forte Cimo Grande  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonardo Malatesta: I forti italiani del Veronese dal 1860 al 1918: piani operativi e storia bellica. Pp. 261-262.
  2. ^ Fiorenzo Meneghelli: La Grande Guerra nel Veronese: le opere fortificate dal Baldo alla Lessinia. P. 305.
  3. ↑ Enrico Ballottari, Michele Mari: La rete dei Forti della Val D'Adige. Proposta per una valorizzazione paesistico-ambientale e turistica dell'area. Pp. 120-122.
  4. ↑ Ulrike Weiss: Austrian and Italian fortresses east of Lake Garda 1849–1907. P. 157.
  5. ^ Leonardo Malatesta: I forti italiani del Veronese dal 1860 al 1918: piani operativi e storia bellica. P. 262.
  6. ^ Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico: L'esercito italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915-1918). Volume II bis (documenti): Le operazioni del 1915. P. 73.

Coordinates: 45 ° 38 ′ 3.5 ″  N , 10 ° 51 ′ 27.4 ″  E