Northern Italy isn’t short of military history. Roman forts, Venetian defences, Austro-Hungarian strongholds. Yet, there’s a far more recent relic of tension and strategy: a secret NATO nuclear bunker built at the height of the Cold War.
Where is the secret NATO nuclear bunker located?
The bunker is in Affi, a small comune about 30 minutes northwest of Verona, close to the southeastern shores of Lake Garda. It’s built into Monte Moscal, a limestone hill overlooking a strategic corridor linking northern Italy with Austria and the rest of central Europe.
History of the nuclear bunker in Verona
The code name of the site is West Star, also referred to as SITE B. Construction began in the early 1960s, at the height of Cold War anxiety. Italy sat uncomfortably close to the eastern bloc sphere of influence through the Balkans and central Europe.
Unlike most Second World War bunkers, West Star was conceived as an anti-nuclear bunker during the Cold War, excavated deep into Monte Moscal and constructed with reinforced, concrete-lined tunnels designed to ensure a protected military command capability.
Inside the secret underground bunker
While it isn’t the deepest nuclear bunker in the world, West Star sits more than 200 metres below the surface inside solid rock, giving it substantial natural shielding.
The bunker reportedly covers around 13,000 square metres, with more than 100 internal rooms, long reinforced tunnels, operations and communications rooms and dormitories and living quarters.
Can you visit the West Star?
The complex remained operational until 2006, after which it was decommissioned as Cold War defence requirements no longer justified its military role.
Today, West Star is the focus of a formal rehabilitation project, reported by La Cronaca di Verona. Detailed surveys and digital documentation have informed a research-led design plan to convert the former NATO bunker into a museum dedicated to its historical and national significance.
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