«On the surface it is a normal tourist visit because for our country we are in times of peace and we have not seen war for at least two generations. But then going down thirty or forty meters underground in a closed environment, without windows, quite oppressive from a structural point of view, is something that is striking. After the first few minutes it makes you feel apprehensive to stay there and imagine how the people might feel who, unlike us, didn’t know what they would find when they left. Beyond knowing historical places, there is also a sense of empathy with those who lived through the war at that time, but also with those who are experiencing it now in the world.” Giorgio Ravasio is the creator of the Bunker 1944 project and president of the Crespi d’Adda Association which, with the T-essere association, aims to raise awareness and valorise places, even minor ones, of historical interest to make them usable, avoiding their state of degradation and abandonment.
In these weeks, from November 30th to December 14th, there are four places open to visits WWII anti-aircraft bunker in Ponte San Pietro and Dalmine in the province of Bergamo, in Brescia and in Sesto San Giovanni, in the province of Milan. They are structures created in the 1940s near industries, among the targets most affected by air attacks, to accommodate employees and inhabitants of the area and, in the case of Ponte San Pietro, it is instead a public bunker, in the city hit due to its nearby presence of a railway bridge on the Bergamo – Milan line. «They have common characteristics: long staircases to go down into spaces that are narrow. The largest is that of Ponte San Pietro. The others are long narrow tunnels like those of the subway.” Precisely in the tunnels of the metropolitan we have seen the inhabitants of Kiev take refuge in these years of attacks from Russia.
In these shelters we stayed for up to 8 or 9 hours, mostly sittingbut there was also a sort of bicycle to take turns connected to a ventilation and lighting system. «This experience is particularly touching today when we see the war not far from us, but mediated by journalistic or filmic stories. Here the experience is direct and we would like to create a network of these structures to make them known as widely as possible. We would like to show the children what their great-grandparents experienced, but also to show the consequences of hatred and war. You can feel on your skin how you live 40 meters underground, like descending to the full height of an 8 or 9 floor building.”
In the shelters it is possible to see photographs and period objects to relive, also through visual and sound suggestions, the experience of war and bombings. During the visit testimonies are read. There is a technical part (how the bunker is made), a historical and an emotional part. «We directly manage the Dalmine bunker and, in the first months of opening, we invited the population. People who had been here as children came: it was very touching to hear their testimonies, the memory of so many people crowded together in environments that today we visit in groups of 20-25 people based on safety regulations. You can feel the dismay, the fear, the concern in their memory.”
The objective of the association is also to create a network and reopen other structures in Italy because “memory is fundamental and only through culture can we create a state of harmony, which is the objective with which UNESCO was born”. These are the bunkers that can be visited.
Ponte San Pietro (BG) – The bunker in Piazza Libertà
The presence in the area of Ponte San Pietro, in the province of Bergamo, of a railway bridge of the Bergamo – Milan line made this town the target of bombings by Allied troops between 1944 and 1945, in an attempt to block communications on this route. Starting from 1942, the Municipality has built some structures for the protection of the population in various points of the city. The entrances to the refuge are located between Piazza della Libertà and Via Moioli. The structure was built by the SARMAS company of Ponte San Pietro. The two tunnels, 60 meters long, have sturdy anti-breath walls at the entrance. The shelter was equipped with toilets. At the end of the war, according to testimonies, the shelter was used for about two years as a warehouse for the Legler Cooperative, awaiting the reconstruction of the headquarters damaged by the bombings. In addition to private home shelters, in fact, public shelters have been created. There were four main ones: that of Casa Avogadro (an equipped basement in via Garibaldi 9), that of the elementary schools in via Piave with a tubular structure, the shelter of the Parco delle Rimembranze or of the Famedio and finally the shelter of the Quisa stream. Furthermore, there were also some splinter protection trenches in various points of the city.
When to visit the bunker in Piazza della Libertà, Ponte San Pietro (BG): Sunday 8 December 2024 with entrances at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Visit duration approximately 60 minutes. Euro 8.00 per person. Free entry up to 6 years old.
Dalmine (BG) – The bunker in the Garbagni district
In July 1939 the commission for anti-aircraft defense planned protection works for the population. The territory of Dalmine (BG) was divided into “exodus sectors”, in which trenches and shelters were built. In 1943, the anti-aircraft shelter was built in the “Garbagni” workers’ district, near the large steelworks, with a capacity of around 500 people, in addition to the one in the Leonardo Da Vinci employees’ village. The refuge is accessed through a double entrance/exit consisting of wells with spiral staircases. The tunnels intended for the protection of people are located at a depth of approximately 20 metres. The walls, 50 centimeters thick, are made of unreinforced concrete, lined internally with perforated bricks and plastered with cement mortar to create an insulating cavity against humidity and water infiltration.
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When to visit the bunker in the Garbagni district in Dalmine (BG): Saturday 7 December 2024 with entrances at 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Visit duration approximately 60 minutes. Euro 8.00 per person. Free entry up to 14 years old.
Brescia – The Breda Meccanica Bresciana anti-aircraft shelter bunker
During the 1940s, with a view to the national anti-aircraft protection plan, the Breda Meccanica Bresciana (now Leonardo) he had a series of surface bunker shelters built along the entire perimeter wall of the factory, where the workers could be sheltered in case of bombings. A portion of them, 70 meters long, was restored, made safe and made visitable in 2015. The restoration took place in a conservative manner and, also thanks to the comparison with the images present in the Breda Historical Archive, an environment very similar to the initial one was restored. Everything is enriched by photographs and period objects, including bicycles used for ventilation. The refuge thus renovated is full of stimuli and emotional suggestions, the sound simulation of a real bombing and the alternation of darkness and light immerse visitors in a dimension outside of time, leading them to identify with that tragic experience that was the experience of the bombings.
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When to visit the Breda Meccanica bunker in Brescia: Saturday 14 December 2024 with entrances at 10, 11 and 12. Duration of the visit: approximately 1 hour. Free entry. The visit also includes entry to the Breda Museum.
Sesto San Giovanni (MI) – The Breda bunkers today in the Parco Nord Milano
Built in reinforced concrete in 1942, the Breda Bunkers or, more precisely, the anti-aircraft shelters of the V Air Force Section of Breda, are located in Parco Nord Milano. These refuges represent a fundamental heritage to stimulate reflection on the past and on local and national history. Through a symbolic and evocative journey, the visitor immerses himself in a very strong emotional experience, made up of memories of war, bombings and images of destruction. The collective art work of the series is installed in the first corridor Crochet bombscurated by Laura Morelli and inspired by the Allied bombings.
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When to visit the Breda bunker in Sesto San Giovanni, Parco Nord Milano: Saturday 30 November at 2.30pm and Sunday 1 December 2024 at 3pm. Visit duration approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cost: €10.00 per person. Euro 5.00 up to 18 years.
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Online booking required on www.bunker1944.it for visits to all bunkers. Access has no age limits, but those with mobility difficulties cannot go down.
The Bunker 1944 project is created by T-essere with the collaboration of the Museo della Melara association, Bunker Dalmine, EUMM – Metropolitan Urban Ecomuseum Milan North, Parco Nord Milan, City of Dalmine, Municipality of Ponte San Pietro.
Source: Vanity Fair
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