From the centre of Grizzana Morandi, CAI trail 100 immediately climbs through meadow areas and mixed woods of chestnut and oak, entering a growing silence that seems to suggest how to approach the places encountered at the end of the stage. Here one is already within the territory of the Monte Sole Historical Park, an area also remarkable for the richness of plant species it hosts — nearly one third of those found in the entire Emilia-Romagna region. It is a true treasure of biodiversity, also from a faunal perspective, with many ungulates easily observed in clearings at dusk, as well as the presence of the wolf, which has returned in recent decades to inhabit these mountains.

When reaching the summit of Monte Sàlvaro — the highest point of the stage, marked by a metal cross — the panorama suddenly opens wide: on one side the Reno valley with the shimmering Porrettana Railway running through the woods, on the other the Setta valley, and farther away, on clear days, the Po Valley fading into the horizon. Here a fierce battle was fought between October 20 and 24, 1944, ending in victory for the Allied forces.

The descent leads back toward the valley floor, where the locality of Monte Termine appears, a historic resting point for park hikers. From here, the Memorial Path takes over from the natural trail, and the walk changes tone. A broad unpaved road leads to the small cemetery of San Martino, and to the left lies the area with the ruins of the Church of San Martino and the Monument to the Martyrs of Monte Sole of 1944. This is the heart of one of the most painful places in Italian history. Between September 29 and October 5, 1944, Nazi SS units carried out one of the worst massacres of civilians in Western Europe during the Second World War: 955 people were killed across the municipalities of Marzabotto, Monzuno, and Grizzana, mostly elderly people, women, and children.

Upon arrival at Monte Sole, the Peace School of Monte Sole and the Rifugio Resistente al Poggiolo welcome the walker, supporting the park’s mission which, beyond environmental protection, is dedicated to promoting a culture of peace, especially among younger generations. It is here, in this place where nature has covered the wounds of history with its forests and meadows, that the long journey comes to its conclusion — a journey that began in the memory of Sant’Anna di Stazzema and ends in the memory of Monte Sole, holding together, stage after stage, beauty and suffering, medieval centuries and 20th-century tragedy, the waters of the Ligurian Sea and the ridgelines of the Apennines.