Historic Refuge
The beginning
“ a colorful crowd of nice and young ladies cheer up a lot of Monzesi (about 200) , that left the city to go for a day to enjoy the fresh air of the mountain and to bring their contribution to the success of the inaugural party of the hut Monza”
It was the 8th July 1906 the inaugural day of the hut Monza.
The decision to build the first refuge was born a few years earlier, in the 1904, when it began to collect the funds between the members, as shown by the usual Meeting of the year. The president, Mr. Fossati closed the meeting “….I suggest all the colleagues to contribute to the building of the hut Monza, and to made every possible efforts to have it finished by the 1905, year in which most probably Italian climbers gather to the congress in Milan.“ The international exhibition which would take place in Milan in 1906, was certainly an excellent opportunity to bring prestige to the life of the section.
The Building
In June 1905, in occasion of the members meeting in Esino, the works started: on 12 of June the first stone of the hut was laid down. During the speech, the president Mr. Quinto Fossati remembered how the idea arose, how the first project of shelter, called as the city of the section, was formulated and also the choice of a significant place; in fact that place is the site where, in 1897 the ancient hut Moncodeno, the first historic refuge of Grigna, was destroyed by an avalanche. The first stone was laid by the godmother Marina Fossati with the ritual solemn blessing in Latin, while sweets and champagne closed the ceremony. The building proceeded so fast that already in August of the same year, you can read the news about the progress of the works:” this new hut, built in Grigna by the section of Monza is almost completed and it will be inaugurated and open to the public by next year. It is situated on the northern side of the northern Grigna or Montecodeno , about 1900 high, in Esino and precisely in the place called “Pojat”.
The Inauguration
The inauguration took place in 1906, the same year of the XXXVII congress of the Italian mountaineers, hosted by the Milan section .The tales of the celebration day were published by all the newspaper in the area, with a great satisfaction of the CAI.: “... now the Cai has another hut, a new powerful weapon of alpinism propaganda. The feeling of beauty and great, that spreads more and more, is in direct relationship with the development of the love for mountains, that till that moment was a privilege of few, while nowadays it concerns every kind soul.”
The recent History
The Hut Monza was destroyed during the second world war because it became a refuge for partisans, it was rebuilt between 1948 and 1952. It was named “Arnaldo Bogani, that is the name of the ex president of the Monza CAI. The refuge, as you can see it today , is the result of various renovations made during the years 1994 -2003, thanks to the contribution of the CAI Monza and the management of Benedetti Family. During the history of the refuge, four families succeed in the management of the shelter: Nasazzi Family, Maffei Family, Barindelli Family and Benedetti Family. Since july 2018 the “italian alpine club - Monza section”, has sold to Benedetti Family, the surface propriety, until 2025.
