After reaching the destroyed village of Caprara di Sopra, the CAI trail 053 is followed as it descends along the eastern slope of Monte Sole Historical Park toward the Setta valley, touching some of the most significant sites within the entire historical park.

The church and cemetery of Casaglia were the setting of the bloodiest episode of the massacre. The terrified population had taken refuge inside the church of Santa Maria Assunta di Casaglia, gathered in prayer, when German troops burst in and killed Don Ubaldo Marchioni and three elderly people with a burst of machine-gun fire. The remaining civilians, assembled in the nearby cemetery, were also machine-gunned: 195 victims from 28 different families, including 50 children.

Not far away is the community of the Piccola Famiglia dell’Annunziata, founded by Don Giuseppe Dossetti, who chose to establish his religious community precisely in this hamlet of Casaglia di Monte Sole. The community maintains a discreet but constant presence, turning these places into spaces of prayer, welcome, and living memory.

After a short but steep stretch, the trail continues to the clearing that holds the remains of the oratory of Cerpiano, site of one of the most harrowing episodes of the entire massacre. Here a group of women and children — 43 people in total — were killed with hand grenades in the confined space of the walled oratory, dying after long hours of agony.

The variant ends at Vado, a hamlet of the municipality of Monzuno on the right bank of the Setta stream. This place is deeply connected to the history of the Resistance: it was here that the “Stella Rossa” Partisan Brigade was formed, commanded by Mario Musolesi, known as “Lupo.” The unit operated on Monte Sole for months, striking German supply lines, before being annihilated along with the surrounding communities in October 1944.