Ronchidoso

Location marked by a vast pine forest where the shrine of Our Lady of Emigrants (early twentieth century) can be found situated in the center of the stretch of Mount Belvedere–Mount Torraccia. This ridge, from late summer 1944, was fortified by the Germans with a dense network of workstations connected by walkways.

In the rooms adjacent the sanctuary, is a commemorative stone remembering the formation of the local partisan brigade “Justice and Freedom” in June 1944. The town is remembered for the massacre of 29 September 1944, when the Germans massacred in retaliation 68 people, mostly women and children, then set fire to the houses in the area.

After the conquest of Mount Belvedere, the pine forest of Ronchidoso was taken on the evening of February 20, 1945 by the men of the 2nd Battalion, 85th Regiment of the 10th American Mountain Division. In addition to several “fox holes”, American defensive structures and German trenches, shelters and a dense network of walkways are still visible today.