Stage 9: Blockhaus and the Appenine mountains

Another mountain stage this time. The Giro d'Italia can be decided on its mountain-climbing runs, not only for the maglia azzurra that the best finisher of these particular stages is awarded, but also for the maglia rosa of the general classification. This year, the Etna stage saw no particular surprises - Fate saved them for Blockhaus.

This year, some moronic police officer parked his motorcycle right by the side of the road at a tight turn on an uphill climb. Someone clipped the motorcycle and went flying. The predictable domino effect ensued, and four strong contenders for the race were brought down in the crash. As of this writing, two have withdrawn.

Blockhaus peak is part of the Majella massif in the central Apennine mountains in Abruzzo. The whole Majella geologic structure includes several prominent peaks and is protected as a national park, one of the best-preserved and unspoiled examples of Apennine ecology in existence.

An Apennine Wolf, Canis lupus italicus, near Majella

But why does an Italian mountain in the center of the peninsula have a German name? 

In 1861, the Kingdom of Sardinia conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and, under King Vittorio Emanuele II, declared the unified Kingdom of Italy. For the House of Savoy and the rich territories of the north it was a victory - for the Mezzogiorno, the lands south of Rome, it was an occupation. 

Bands of outlaws called briganti sprang up in the mountains, fighting guerrilla war against the new overlords. They were displaced nobles, exploited peasants, opportunists, adventurers, criminals and political agitators. The enemy was the political authority, the landowning class, and the police. The briganti were vicious and desperate and the retribution on the part of the Piedmontese authorities was equally if not more so - an argument can be made that the period of brigantaggio was in fact a civil war. 

A "blockhaus" is a German name for a bunker or fortress, often built of stone in mountainous strategic locations. The Kingdom of Italy's soldiers sent to Abruzzo to "deal with" the outlaws were of Austrian origin, and they set up shop on the mountain in Majella that they named: Blockhaus. 

After the uprisings in the south were finally suppressed, no coherent political movement opposing the Savoy rule emerged. Italy was unified, and so it remains. But so too remain the inscriptions carved into rocks high up in the peaks of Majella, on the Tavola dei Briganti. 

"In 1820 Vittorio Emanuele King of Italy was born. Until 1860 it was the kingdom of flowers, now it's the reign of misery."