Cima Manderiolo Observatory - Costalta Cave
On Monte Mandriolo, in Val di Sella at an altitude of 2049 m, there is the Italian cave observatory of the same name, equipped with slits that open on the north wall, which descends precipitously onto Valsugana. From here the Italian soldiers had within range both the underlying area of Levico and Caldonazzo, and the Vezzena plateau with its forts. The view over Valsugana from this place is unparalleled.
A partially preserved trench is still visible today in front of the entrance to the cave emplacement.
Just below Cima Manderiolo there is the Grotta di Costalta (1748 m), an Italian stronghold until the arrival of the Strafexpedition, when on the night between 15 and 16 May 1916 it was occupied by a company of the first battalion of the 181st Austro-Hungarian infantry brigade. The cave in question goes about 320 meters into the mountainside and is one of the largest caves in Trentino. Inside, remains of ibex bones were found, a species that has been extinct for a long time in the mountains of Trentino. It can only be visited in the summer period, by expert users and only with a guide, upon reservation.
In the surrounding area, the remains of trenches and machine gun positions are still evident, often covered by soil and vegetation.
The dates of foundation and decommissioning of the cemetery were carved on the cross, 1915 and 1921. According to various testimonies, the exhumation of 1921 had only involved the skulls of the fallen and according to others not even all of them, so much so that it could be said with confidence that the military cemetery still existed . On the initiative of the Luserna Alpine Group, the parish, the municipal administration and with the contribution of many volunteers, the old military cemetery of Costalta was restored with the placing of 184 nameless crosses, in memory of all the fallen, and solemnly inaugurated on August 10, 1986.
How to reach it: from Borgo take the Val di Sella, after the Paradiso hotel turn towards Ponte Val delle Taole, park and continue on foot along path Sat 207 (approximately 3 hours).
To know more:
Luca Girotto, The long trench 1915-18, Chronicles of the Great War from Valsugana to Val di Fiemme – Cima di Vezzena – Panarotta – Catena Lagorai – Cima d'Asta – Cauriol, Gino Rossato Editore, Novale (VI), 1995, pp. 71-72.
Conrad Rauch, History of the Austrian Military Cemetery of Costalta, Dokumentationszentrum Lusern, 1996.