The locality of Ca’ Bottò is situated at the foot of Masarè and Corpon, a short distance from Valle Cassanega (once called Val de Bolle or Bole), which marks the border with the municipality of Borso del Grappa. From a historical perspective, two factors make this place unique. First, in the second half of the 19th century, right here—between Bottò, Val de Bolle, Giannino, Corpon, Schiba, Carda, De Martini, Belvedere, and Larghi—the Rossi family (already owners of the local spinning mill) dedicated themselves to breeding and training the best trotting horses of the era. The patriarch, Giovanni Rossi, raced throughout Northern Italy; his son Giuseppe followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming the best driver in the history of Italian trotting, revolutionizing the racing system by transforming it from a popular spectacle into a sporting event, winning over 1500 races on all Italian and European racetracks where his participation was highly sought after and applauded. Secondly, during the Great War, the entire area around Bottò was militarized and hosted the Italian army’s rear lines: we must imagine it as the American novelist John Dos Passos described it to us: a slow swarm of soldiers and mules, the roar of trucks ascending from Gherla, jolting, the sputtering of cable car engines amidst the incessant clatter of steel cables, and then the distant echo of shelling mixed with the sound of every wounded man’s cries.
