The bunkers

I was walking in the mountains and suddenly a breathtaking valley opened up before me. Stunning. One thing immediately caught my attention: on the crest of the ridge in front of me were two bunkers from the last war. Remnants of the Alpine Wall built by Mussolini in preparation for the Second World War. Because the First World War hadn't been enough.

I've always been fascinated by abandoned structures, and although a little tired, I decided to continue immediately toward those two fortifications. They were still surrounded by rusty barbed wire. As I walked, I found a rusty sardine can under a rock, undoubtedly dating back to that era, and a little further on, a bomb shrapnel. A few more meters and I found myself at the entrance to the bunker. I was as excited as a child, I entered in silence, and instinctively crossed myself. I walked along a very low tunnel and, suddenly, I found myself in front of a small window overlooking a stone ledge where a machine gun, probably a Carcano M91, once stood. I look out the window and what I see seems surreal. Before me, the peak of Rocca la Meja in all its splendor.

I immediately find myself transported back to the Second World War. And I can't help but think of the emotions a man with a machine gun in his hand must have felt, standing in front of a tiny window overlooking paradise... A man who finds himself in the most beautiful place in the world, locked in a cold bunker, awaiting an enemy who will soon arrive. In a strange way, I feel possessed by that soldier on guard. And I can't help but think of a phrase my grandfather said: "How beautiful the world is, how disgusting war is!"

Andrea Gotico
NP November 2025