Fossato to host event on post-war mountain school history

The Municipality of Cantagallo, in collaboration with the Fondazione CDSE (Centro di Documentazione Storico-Etnografica) and the Pro Loco APS of Fossato, will host a participatory history event titled ‘Germogli di sapere sui sentieri di montagna’. Scheduled for August 28, 2026, the meeting aims to rediscover local history through the memories of those who attended mountain schools in the Apennines between the 1940s and 1960s.

The event will feature direct testimonies from former students recounting life and education in the Fossato mountain school during the 1940s and 1950s. Alessia Cecconi, director of Fondazione CDSE, noted that restarting schools in small mountain villages after World War II was a complex undertaking due to destroyed buildings, occupation by Allied forces or displaced persons, and extreme geographic isolation. In the 1950s, reaching areas like Fossato and Gavigno often required a four-hour walk, as public transport did not reach these locations directly.