Joanne's long walks: Via Romea Germanica Day 74: Cismon del Grappa

Monte Grappa tu sei la mia Patria,
sei la stella che addita il cammino,
sei la gloria, il volere, il destino,
che all'Italia ci fa ritornar!

(Monte Grappa, you are my homeland

You are the star that shows us the way,

You are the glory, the will and the destiny

That will bring us back to Italy!)

- General Emilio de Bono, Canzone del Grappa, August 1918

The Grappa in all these place names is not the alcoholic kind, though that is also made here; the reference is to Mount Grappa, towering above Cismon, dominating the valley from a height of 1776 metres.

After the defeat of the Italian forces at Caporetto, Mount Grappa became the most important point of Italy's defences against Austria for the remainder of the First World War. The Austrians repeatedly attempted to conquer the peak in order to invade the Venetian plain between November 11, 1917 and October 24, 1918, and an estimated 40,000 soldiers on both sides perished on the mountain, and were buried in makeshift temporary cemeteries. In 1928 the majority of their graves were consolidated in the Monte Grappa Military Memorial, which contains the remains of 23,000 Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers. The remains of more soldiers are kept at the Temple and Ossuary in Bassano del Grappa, which I visited on the way to my hostel, and where I saw the historic photographs below.

The Ossuary damaged during World War II

But I'm getting ahead of myself in telling the story of my day! A day that started earlier than any other so far: the birds singing outside the open window of the parish centre in Cismon del Grappa woke me up before five, and so I rolled up my sleeping mat (something I had been dying to do ever since seeing Wim Wenders' Perfect Days 😅) and made instant coffee in the parish kitchen, heating water in a frying pan because that was all I could find. By five-thirty I was out the door and on my way.

I crossed the wooden suspension bridge over the Brenta river and walked southwards along a quiet road connecting the villages on the right bank of the river, the south-facing and therefore more developed side. At five-thirty there was no-one on the road; by six-thirty the first cyclists were out and about, enjoying the cool morning air like me. Actually the weather was perfect all day: cloudy in the morning, clearing by noon but with a cool breeze and plenty of shade along the way.

The suspension bridge

House set right up against the rock

In Valstagna I stopped in at the church, and found a hat that someone had left on a pew. I adopted it. In Valbrenta I stopped for a break on a bench by the reservoir behind a dam and ate my third breakfast of the day (the first was instant coffee, fruit and a croissant in the hostel at five, the second espresso and a bun in a café at seven-thirty, the third a cheese sandwich on the bench by the lake around ten). It was good that I fortified myself in this way because the next section involved walking along a busy road with no sidewalk for a kilometre or so! But soon the route turned off to follow a cycling path and then a trail along the side of the river. In Campese, only five kilometres or so before Bassano, I saw a sign saying simply "Monastero", pointing in the direction of a church with a separate bell tower in Venetian style, and I turned up the lane and found one of the most welcoming places I have yet encountered on the Way.

Santa Croce is a former Benedictine monastery founded by a former abbott of Cluny in 1124, abandoned in the 18th century and now operated by an association of local volunteers. The association, Il Sicomoro ODV, continues to run it in the spirit of the Benedictine rule, under the motto Ora et labora et lege, et noli contristarti in laetitia pacis: Pray, work and study, and let nothing sadden you in the joy of peace. The monastery is a place to take a break, to pray or simply sit in silence in the Stanza del Silenzio, to eat a meal in company, to work with your hands, in the garden or the monastery itself. People of all kinds are welcome, and at present there is a group of 16 young people from all over the world attending a work camp. You can read more about the association and its activities here.

I could have stayed at the monastery as a pilgrim, though I wasn't aware of it as it does not appear in the list of recommended accommodations. Silvia, the volunteer in charge of hospitality, offered me a glass of juice and sat down to tell me about the history of the monastery and the association's work. She invited me to stay for lunch, but it was not yet noon and the group would not be eating until one-thirty, so I told her I would rest in the Silent Room for a while and then go on my way. While I was in there a busload of (non-walking) pilgrims arrived, accompanied by a couple of priests; they took a look around the monastery and then filed into the church for Mass. I stayed for the first few minutes and then went on my way, the Kyrie echoing in my mind, much refreshed by the pause in my walk.

International youth group working in the garden

Volunteers preparing lunch for the youth group

La Stanza del Silenzio

The remaining five kilometres into Bassano were all in the shade, on a pretty trail through the trees beside the river, emerging into the city close to the famous covered bridge designed by Palladio.