Name: Passo del Giogo – Stronghold of the Gothic Line
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Passo del Giogo – Stronghold of the Gothic Line

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Firenzuola

Passo del Giogo – Stronghold of the Gothic Line

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Location: Firenzuola, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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Best Hikes to Passo del Giogo – Stronghold of the Gothic Line

4.8

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1. Fonte al Lupo – Capanna Marcone Shelter loop from Casanuova

18.2km

05:14

420m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Expert

4.7

(29)

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2. Fonte al Lupo – Capanna Marcone Shelter loop from Palazzuolo sul Senio

19.3km

05:32

420m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Expert

4.7

(7)

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3. Panoramic Bench – View of Mugello loop from Ronta

11.1km

04:30

630m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

Tips

Daniele B.

June 28, 2021

Apennine Pass with great views, loved by motorcyclists. Access route from Mugello towards Firenzuola and the Passo della Raticosa towards Romagna.

The events of the Second World War WW2, which marked these territories, are important for the Passo del Gioco. An important testimony is the Museum of the Gothic Line of Ponzalla MUGOT: museogotica.it/home

"Gothic Line" (Gotenstellung) was the name given by the Germans to the set of fortifications built on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to defend the Po Valley from the advance of the allies from the South. In the summer of 1944, when it seemed that it should be overwhelmed by the allied troops, the Germans preferred to change the name to the less high-sounding "Green Line" (Grune Linie) although the term Gothic Line remained generally in use. The Germans had begun to study the possibility of fortifying the Apennines as early as August 1943, when the allies were still fighting in Sicily, however, the actual works only began in the spring of 1944, under the direction of the Todt organization. The Gothic Line was not a continuous line of fortifications, but a set of defenses arranged deep in the Apennines that exploited the natural elements of the terrain crossing Italy from the Tyrrhenian coast north of Viareggio to the Adriatic coast up to Pesaro, for about 300 km as the crow flies. The line included thousands of field works, reinforced with wood, stone or reinforced concrete, and anti-tank ditches (one of which 5 km long at the Futa Pass), all protected by barbed wire and extensive minefields. Fortunately for the allies, the Gothic works were very late on forecasts and, at the time of the attack, in September 1944, the central Apennines were still unguarded compared to the more vulnerable and therefore better fortified coasts. The weakest points of the line were the Futa Pass and the Adriatic coast, which were therefore fortified with greater effort. At the Futa, apart from the long anti-tank ditch, casemates in reinforced concrete were prepared (in some cases with Panther tank turrets with 75 mm guns), weapon stands and troop shelters. The advanced line of defense included entrenchments defended by barbed wire and extensive minefields and two of the five German divisions placed in defense of the entire central Apennines were concentrated in the Futa. For these reasons, the Americans decided to attack the Passo del Giogo, defended by few troops and less fortified, deceiving the Germans about their true intentions with a strong diversionary attack by the 34th Infantry Division on the Futa route, straddling the ridge of the Calvana and through Calenzano and Barberino. The allied operations in the Tyrrhenian sector, under the control of the 4th American Army Corps including Commonwealth troops, assumed a secondary character with respect to the effort north of Florence and the units deployed along the Tuscan coast conducted operations on a relatively limited scale until spring 1945.

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 890 m

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Wednesday 1 October

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Max wind speed: 7.0 km/h

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Location: Firenzuola, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Passo del Giogo – Stronghold of the Gothic Line

1. Fonte al Lupo – Capanna Marcone Shelter loop from Casanuova

2. Fonte al Lupo – Capanna Marcone Shelter loop from Palazzuolo sul Senio

3. Panoramic Bench – View of Mugello loop from Ronta

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