Great Path of Memory

The history of the 1900s is written on this land. If after reading about it in books you want to see for yourself what totalitarianism and its consequences mean, both in terms of the deprivation of freedom and incitement to war, you need only walk through these places. This applies to people from all over the world, as World War II brought soldiers from around the globe to fight here for freedom from Nazi-fascist oppression. It also applies to all the young residents of this land who have not experienced their grandparents' realities.

The path we recommend starts from the island of Ventotene. Here, dissenters from the fascist regime, intellectuals of every political belief, were "confined"; their only fault was refusing to remain silent about the restriction of freedoms, particularly after the enactment of the racial laws in '39. Here, a group of men and women wrote the famous "Manifesto for a Free and United Europe," later signed by a communist, Altiero Spinelli, and a liberal, Ernesto Rossi. From Ventotene to Montecassino, this is a journey we should all undertake. It illustrates yesterday's war and invites us to support peace for today and our future. Every year, a torch is lit in Ventotene on May 9, Europe Day, and is carried to Montecassino by young high school students from Cassino, the martyr city!

To learn about the horrors of war, you need only follow the Path of Military Cemeteries dedicated to various countries that fought here: those of Poland, the Commonwealth, Germany, England, France, and Italy. They are spread across the territory and all differ in structure. The one thing they have in common is the young age of the soldiers buried under the crosses.

If you want to understand what happened in those lands around the world that suffered heavy bombings during the wars, you must visit the Historiale Museum in Cassino, conceived by the famous Carlo Rambaldi. The images, sounds, and war environments, recreated with special effects, will allow you to relive those dramatic moments experienced by local communities between January and May 1944.

If you wish to visit the battle sites and see, with your own eyes, the destruction that the war has caused, just follow the "Great Path of Memory" and let yourself be guided by the signs marking, at the entrance of each involved municipality, what occurred, for future remembrance.

If you find an artwork made of wood, with a bicycle at its center, the rear wheel crumpled and the front wheel in perfect shape, approach it. It is another work by Rambaldi, and it serves to remind us of the tragedy of the past and to wish for peace in the future.

Another place to visit, following the mountain path between the municipality of Terelle and that of Colle San Magno, is the medieval village of the latter. Inside the village is another museum that preserves the memories of the last war. Following the path, you will experience another piece of history, as this is the very route that supplies flowed through to the German soldiers stationed behind the Gustav defensive line. On the same path, the wounded soldiers would also pass back to find medical care in the rear.

In May, when the poppies are in bloom, you will walk these paths alongside people coming from all over the world to honor their ancestors who died on this land, a place that welcomes with respect and kindness all opposing fighters, perhaps both victims of senseless choices of which they are not guilty, and it carefully preserves their memory as a warning against all wars.