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The Construction of
the Romita Tunnel |
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The
tunnel
was
built as
an
air-raid
shelter
according
to plans
drawn up
by the
town’s
planning
department
approved
on 30
June
1943.
The
initial
cost
estimate
was
1,498,274.25
lira
which
rose to
4,636,408.70
by the
time the
work was
completed.
The
original
idea was
to dig a
horseshoe-shaped
tunnel
with a
main
section
80
meters
long
parallel
to
Campogiorgio
with two
29-meter
access
tunnels.
The
tunnel,
however,
would
not have
been
able to
hold
more
than 800
people.
It was
then
decided
to build
a tunnel
capable
of
accommodating
1,800
people
by
cutting
deep
through
the rock
of Colle
delle
Capre on
a
north-south
axis.
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Romita
Tunnel
2003
Before
Restoration
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The tunnel thus
created would be
safer and could
later be used as an
access road. The
contract for the
work was awarded to
the company of the
Vittorino brothers
and Primo Dalla
Corte, Luigi Ricci,
the head of the
planning department,
was put in charge of
the work under the
supervision of the
German provincial
commissar for
planning, and
engineer called
Franz Kessler, who
ordered a number of
modifications. On
visiting the site,
Kessler ordered that
the entrances were
to be 2.5 meters
wide while the
tunnel itself was to
have a diameter of 4
meters. However, as
a result of the
pressure of the
local population,
knowing that after
the war the tunnel
would provide useful
access to the
hospital, the
entrances were
widened to six
meters. |
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Completion of the
work was planned for
15 February 1944,
but – in the words
of the final report
- “the continuing
deaths of local
people as a result
of the conflict and
the continual
roundups […], a
landslide at the
north entrance, the
lack of materials,
labor and transport,
and the continued
use of the tunnel as
an air-raid shelter”
meant that the
completion date was
put back three
times. The tunnel
was not actually
finished until 25
January 1945. |
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The New Romita
Tunnel
after
2008
Re-construction |
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On 26 February 1944,
while the
Campogiorgio
entrance was being
dug, a perfectly
preserved conical
terracotta amphora
was discovered under
the orchard
belonging to the
Bellati family. It
was lying ten meters
underground in a
small chamber
accessed by a
staircase just
inside the
16th-century walls.
The amphora, which
is believed to come
from Istria, is
typical of those
used at the time of
Augustus, and
throughout the first
century A.D., for
transporting olives
preserved in honey
and herbs, or in
salt. They were
common in the
ancient provinces of
Raetia and Pannonia,
and throughout
northern Italy. |
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The amphora was
taken to the Civic
Museum where it can
still be seen today.
After the war, the
tunnel was used as
an access road and
showed few signs of
its original
function. Originally
the tunnel was not
straight, and thick
walls protected each
entrance from
shrapnel and blast.
The complex of
rooms, which during
the war had been
fully equipped for
use as toilets, an
infirmary,
storerooms and for
providing light,
water and
telephones, were all
bricked up. On the 7
August 1965, the
town council decided
to name the tunnel
after Giuseppe
Romita (Tortona 1887
– Rome 1958) a
minister of the
Republic whose name
is associated with
the historic
referendum of 22
June 1946. |
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Click on any of the
images to view many more
images of the Romita
tunnel through our
Feltre Social
Network |
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Romita
Tunnel
November
2008 |
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Protection from
Bombardment and Gas
During World War II |
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A planning office
report of 30 June
1943 drew attention
to the fact that in
Feltre there was
little protection
from the ever
increasing air
raids.
Only two basements,
which with
appropriate
reinforcement could
be used as public
shelters, were
found: the warehouse
belonging to the
town council in Via
Beccherie (for 70
people), and that of
the Filippetto
family home in Via
Mezzaterra (for 60
people). Neither of
the two, it was
pointed out, were
particularly safe. A
further possibility
was the basement of
Palazzo De Mezzan.
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The air-raid siren
sounded 400 times
between October 1944
and the end of the
conflict. In 1936,
in an atmosphere of
international
tension, the
National Union for
Air-raid Protection
(U.N.P.A.) had been
set up in Rome under
the supervision of
the Ministry of War
and its role was
defined by decree
no. 1062 of 14 May
1936. A voluntary
national air raid
protection service
was instituted in
1939 with the role
of assisting the
civilian population
during air raids,
and providing
information about
aerial warfare and
safety measures.
Every building had a
head whose job was
to communicate with
the fire brigade and
the authorities in
the event that the
building was bombed
or in some way
damaged by the war. |
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On becoming the
local U.N.P.A.
warden on 26 April
1944, Giovanni De
Toffol formed five
teams of ten men
necessary each ready
to intervene
wherever. Three
teams were used for
rescuing the
injured, recovering
bodies, clearing
bombed out houses
and running the
shelter in the
tunnel, one dealt
with the transport
of the injured, and
a further technical
team was made up of
former firemen. The
council organized
160 men, mostly
workers from local
companies, into
fifteen groups
equipped with
ladders, picks,
shovels, hatchets,
lamps and ropes. The
firms of Vittorio
Dalla Caneva and
Bruno D’Alberto lent
their trucks to
U.N.P.A. Every day a
foreman and eight
men kept order in
the tunnel,
prevented the
parking of vehicles
during raids and
controlled traffic
in the center. |
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Air Raids during
World War II |
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After the summer of
1943, there was
heavy Anglo-American
bombing of northern
Italy, particularly
in the industrial
triangle of Milan,
Turin, and Genova.
In 1944 alone the
M.A.A.F.
(Mediterranean
Allied Air Force)
undertook 4,541
bombing raids over
central and northern
Italy. On 7 April
1944, Good Friday,
Treviso was
subjected to one of
the worst raids of
the whole war in the
Veneto. Feltre did
not suffer similar
destruction, but was
subjected to a
series of smaller
bombing raids. |
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The railway bridge
over the stream
Viera at Busche was
bombed on 29 August
and 1 September
1944. The road
bridge at Cesana was
also hit. On 20
October bombs fell
at Campose near Anzù.
On 9 February 1945 a
bomb fell near the
barracks in Via
Zuecca destroying a
house and damaging
three others. On 12
and 16 March the
German transporters
parked on Largo
Castaldi were hit by
machinegun fire,
killing two and
wounding two others.
On 11 April a raid
left one dead and
one wounded on the
Culiada. A German
tanker full of
petrol parked in Via
Roma was set ablaze
during a heavy
machinegun attack on
28 April. The flames
engulfed the Bado
greengrocer’s and
the “Vaporetto”
trattoria, injuring
two German soldiers.
Four other German
tankers were set
alight by machinegun
fire between Farra
and the Pedavena
brewery on the same
day, and a further
three were damaged.
During the retreat
of the German troops
in the last days of
April, telephone and
telegraph
communication broke
down and the air
raid sirens were
only sounded when
the planes were in
sight. |
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If you have any
questions, please
email us at
info@vafeltre.com |
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Region |
Veneto |
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Province |
Belluno. |
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Elevation |
325 m |
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Population |
20,560 |
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Demonym |
Feltrini |
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Time |
CET(UTC+1) |
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Postal |
32032 |
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Dialing |
0439 |
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Patron |
St.
Victor |
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