RAM, The refuge hidden under the town of Massa

The RAM, Rifugio Antiaereo Martana, is a small labyrinth hidden under the town of Massa. It was a shelter for thousands of women, men and children, built between 1942 and 1943 by miners from the Veneto region and then occupied by Nazi troops during the military control and standoff along the Gothic Line. The 400 metres of tunnels dug into the underground rock, with parts lined with concrete and several ventilation chimneys, find one of the three entrance openings in via Bigini, not far from piazza Mercurio, right in the old town centre, and extend as far as via Prado.

The RAM was meant to offer shelter to civilians during the dreadful shelling that battered the city with the indiscriminate destruction of homes, buildings and historical works. Hearing the sound of the siren meant sensing the start of the attack and thus the rush towards that dark and gloomy corridor. As early as January 1944, in fact, the town of Massa and surrounding areas became the target of Anglo-American shelling, and during the course of the year, the Germans occupied the refuge, giving orders to displace civilians who took refuge in the nearby mountains, in natural ravines, quarries and in the destroyed houses. The last shelling took place in February 1945. The houses in Piazza Aranci, the Church of San Sebastiano, the Martana district and the monument in Piazza Mercurio were hit. Nearby, in Piazza Aranci, another underground shelter, completely covered by large tiles with four openings in the square's corners, can only be visited on certain dates during the year. There are other air-raid shelters: at Monte di Pasta, in Piazza Garibaldi, mostly covered trenches, and at Capaccola.

After the end of the conflict, the RAM was closed until 2006 and then became a venue and setting for educational and cultural events and it is still open today for guided tours, exhibitions, concerts and theatre workshops. The experience and memory of those who lived through those dreadful events can be retraced through media material with interviews and films.