[1] In the late 1930s, the Italian government commissioned a network of underground galleries and anti-aircraft bunkers under Monte Soratte, about 45 km (28 mi) north of Rome.
Secret excavation work began in 1937 to build a huge air-raid shelter intended to house the Italian government and Comando Supremo should Rome come under siege.
[2] After the 8 September 1943 Frascati air raid, the extensive bunker became the headquarters of the German occupying forces commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring.
On 9 November 2024, an electric Decauville Railway was put into operation in the Monte Soratte bunker, allowing visitors to tour 2.5 km of the previously inaccessible tunnels.
It is now possible to visit the tunnel complex on a narrow-gauge railway, which has been constructed in a modern design that complies with current regulations and can be used by the elderly and children like a fairground ride.