Sant'Oreste station

The mysterious city in the bowels of Mount Soratte

 

Speaking of the Northern Rome Railway and forget the Monte Soratte, is unforgivable. This mountain of 691 meters, dominating much of the plain which slopes towards Rome. Although of limited height, this rock, placed between the Roman countryside and the Apennines, sometimes takes a majestic appearance, important, so it seem higher than really it is. From the train, while you approach Sant'Oreste, you spot more impressive. This beautiful mountain in 1943 was chosen as the headquarters of the German army who retired from Frascati. Field Marshal Kesselring himself had come to inspect the tunnels, it was decided that this underground complex, excavated in 1937, would received the German High Command with accommodation, materials, office buildings, defensive structures. Built to house the factory Breda, it was also manufactured to house outside laundries, offices, warehouses. The building that housed the commander Kesselring, decorated with glitter, was connected directly to the galleries with an underground passage, to avoid the danger of air attacks. A powerful radio transceiver, housing for military, offices, rooms used as prisons, a huge warehouse well stocked with food, a shelter for weapons and ammunition, a movie theater with the availability of 500 seats, a fully stocked bar, were located tunnel no. 1 (1 km long) and in other underground, equipped with air conditioning and heating. In 1944 a heavy Allied bombing. drived out troops of General Kesselring and the bowels of the Soratte caught fire. In the 50 were assigned to the Corps Grenadiers who used them as ammunition depot. Subsequently were  carried out further excavations to turn the structure into fallout shelter. Finally, in recent times, the Ministry of Defence decided to return the land to the City of Sant'Oreste.