Monte Grappa is a mountain of the Venetian Prealps in Veneto, Italy. It lies between the Venetian plain to the south and the central alpine areas to the North. To the west, it is parted from the Asiago upland by the Brenta river, and to the east it is separated from the Cesen-Visentin massif by the Piave river. To the north lie Corlo lake and Feltre valley. In the past, the mountain was called Alpe Madre, and is currently divided among three provinces: Vicenza to the west, Treviso to the south and Belluno to the northeast. It is the highest peak of a small massif, which also includes many other peaks such as Col Moschin, Colle della Berretta, Monte Asolone, Monte Pertica, Prassolan, Monti Solaroli, Fontana Secca, Monte Peurna, Monte Santo, Monte Tomatico, Meatte, Monte Pallon and Monte Tomba.
Geomorphology
The Grappa Massif was formed almost ten million years ago. It was created by the collision between the African and European lithospheric plates. Over the millennia, these sediments have been interested by a cementification and then they were lifted up by pressures that caused the Alpine mountain range to rise. Nowadays, the main types of rocks found on the Grappa are:
The Grey Limestones: the oldest formation, comprising the biggest part of the massif: it is found on the cliff faces. Its calcareous composition has caused such an expanded karst phenomenon that brought to light a lot of caves full of stalactites, deep wells and caves;
the Rosso Ammonitico: with its calcareous origin, it forms the “cities of stone” situated in the Poise and Meda Valleys;
the Biancone: a calcareous rock which is found on the summit and around the villages of Borso and Semonzo;
the Red Flake: a clayish limestone that is also the raw material used to make cement.
Furthermore, over the centuries, different external atmospheric pressures have modified the morphological structure of the Grappa massif.
the glaciers, which are responsible for the high valleys of the Brenta and Piave rivers. They also caused the formation of the glacial cirques near the summit.
the creeks, which have been caused by erosion from rainwater.
The karst phenomenon, that is really extensive in the Massif. There are a lot of caves and wells, sinkholes and swallow holes, the absence of streams and sources at high altitudes and the "cities of stone".
Flora
Due to its geographic position near the Venetian plain, the Monte Grappa area is very rich in both flowers and plants. In fact, its climatic conditions has favoured the prevalence of small Mediterranean scrub bushes and alpine vegetation that is composed mostly of conifers in the snowy areas. Typical trees and bushes on Monte Grappa include maple and lime, the fir tree, the spruce fir and the beech tree, with various geophytes underneath. Typical forest flowers include: dandelions, Knautia persicina, Globularia nudicaulis, peony, the rare iris, Soldanella and Clematis. Typical pasture grasses include: Festuca paniculata and Helictotrichon parlatorei, and on the cliffs Minuartia graminifolia can be found.
Some of the events of World War I and World War II took place on Monte Grappa, and a memorial monument, the statue of the Madonna del Grappa, and a World War Museum lie on the mountain. The remains of Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died in war are kept here. During World War I, after the Italian Caporetto defeat, Mount Grappa became the most important pillar of Italian defence, and Austrianstried many times to conquer the peak to spread on the Venetian plain from November 11, 1917 to October 24, 1918. The Italians made caves in the rock and built fixed emplacements for the artillery so that they could keep control from the Valderoa Mount to Caprile hill. The most important military work is the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery, which is equipped with water tanks, infirmaries and beds. During World War II, the Partisans sought refuge on Monte Grappa. Here the Nazis killed a huge number of soldiers, and those who had not been killed in battle were publicly hanged at Bassano del Grappa. Post war, NATO built a radar missile base on Monte Grappa for American anti-aircraft defense, which was demolished in the 1970s.
The Military Memorial Monument
On the summit of Monte Grappa there is a military memorial monument, designed by the architect Giovanni Greppi in collaboration with the sculptor Giannino Castiglioni. It was inaugurated on 22 September 1935. In the central body lie the remains of 12,615 soldiers, of these the identities of 10,332 are unknown. The monument is composed of five concentric circles laid on top of each other to form a pyramid. On the top there is the little sanctuary of the Madonnina del Grappa. Near the monument, there is cave where some people believe that some Partisans had been burnt alive by the Nazi-fascists. Since 1974 there has been a statue called Al Partigiano in that cave, made by the sculptor Augusto Murer.
