Holiday apartment in Valle di Cadore: Mountains, Trails and History

Valle di Cadore lies on the green valley floor at the foot of Monte Antelao and combines impressive mountain scenery with an unusually rich history. If you choose a holiday apartment in Valle di Cadore, you can spend your days in very different ways: walking or cycling along a paved route, enjoying mountain views at Rifugio Costapiana or exploring historic districts.

Landscape and trails around Valle di Cadore

An important area for activities is the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti, which runs through Valle di Cadore. The cycle and footpath is completely closed to motorised traffic, paved and has steady, manageable gradients. You can therefore walk or cycle along the route. This offers a flexible way to combine exercise with experiencing the landscape.

To Rifugio Costapiana and S. Dionisio

From Valle di Cadore, follow the paved road to Rifugio Costapiana, which climbs to the upper part of the village. At a marked bend with a spring and the hut sign, you can continue on foot in about two hours or by car. Rifugio Costapiana can be reached on foot, with snowshoes or with ski touring skis. From there, you can enjoy views of Monte Antelao and the upper Valle del Boite.

There is also a chapel of the same name beside Rifugio Costapiana. It was built and consecrated in 1508 to provide shelter for people who fled before the Battle of Rusecco and sought refuge in the high mountains. S. Dionisio is another possible destination: the almost 2,000-metre-high hill offers a 360-degree panoramic view and can be reached on foot from Rifugio Costapiana in about one and a half hours.

Roman Traces and Early History

Archaeological finds and votive objects of Roman and pre-Roman origin attest to a history of Valle di Cadore reaching back to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Archaeological finds from Valle di Cadore suggest the existence of an early medieval necropolis dating from the late 6th to the early 7th century AD. In Rusecco, three bronze situlae were found in 1910. One bore a Venetic inscription dedicated to Loudera, a deity equated with the Roman Libera and associated with the cycles of death and rebirth in nature.

Fies, too, in the higher part of the village, preserves a trace from antiquity. A stone slab with a Latin inscription from the 1st century AD was found there. It testifies that Lucius Saufeius donated a schola, meaning a meeting and ceremonial space, as well as a solarium, a terrace, to an association or corporation. Four buildings from Roman times were discovered in the districts of Stean and Villa; they were probably villas. Two buildings in Villa had rooms with florally decorated plaster and mosaic floors. One of these buildings contained a room measuring 15 × 11 m, while the other contained a room measuring 9 × 9 m; the buildings are dated to the 1st to 2nd centuries AD.

Discover Costa and San Martino

Costa is a historic village where houses with distinctive Venetian features stand alongside traditional Cadore mountain houses and buildings from the first centuries AD. The historic Via Romana runs through Costa. Along the way, you will find buildings with vaulted ceilings, balconies, coats of arms and artistically designed corners. This turns a walk through the village into an appreciation of historic details rather than merely a connection between individual points.

San Martino stands on a rocky promontory above the Valle del Boite. The 18th-century Church of San Martino was built on the ruins of a castle of Roman origin and is currently closed for safety reasons. The church contains paintings by Antonio Lazzarini and an altarpiece by Francesco da Milano. The different sites make Valle di Cadore particularly interesting if you want to combine experiences of nature and traces of culture during your trip.

Choose a holiday apartment in Valle di Cadore according to your travel plans

When choosing your accommodation in Valle di Cadore, you can first consider which focus should shape your days. The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti and the trails around Rifugio Costapiana favour an active itinerary, while Costa, San Martino and the archaeological traces in Rusecco, Fies, Stean and Villa open up other forms of discovery. This allows you to choose a holiday apartment or holiday house according to the desired balance of activity, landscape and history, without having to commit to just one type of experience.

Discover more places

For further orientation, you can also discover Arabba, Villapiana-ronchena, Ponte Nelle Alpi, Longarone, Cherz, Feltre, Castion and Montebello.

To the higher-level travel overview: Belluno.