Province of Belluno in Veneto

Helpful facts

This province in the north of the Veneto region is separated from South Tyrol by the monument of the Dolomites, the Three Peaks. It is characterised by Cadore, framed by the Dolomites, and by the Piave River, which flows through the entire province. A large part of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site of the Dolomites is on Belluno soil. In general, the province of Belluno has a varied landscape that is very popular with tourists. It shows an alternation of high alpine, rugged mountain landscapes to lovely municipalities reaching into the Po Valley. The most famous municipality in the world is Cortina d'Ampezzo. This renowned winter and mountain sports centre hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and the 1932, 1941 and 2021 Alpine World Ski Championships . Together with Milan, the town is set to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. The charming, very natural lake Lago Antorno lies at an altitude of 1,866 m above sea level in the immediate vicinity of the larger and also better known Lake Misurina. At Lago Antorno the toll road leads up to the Three Peaks. History Between 1420 and 1797 the area belonged to the Republic of Venice, the Serenissima. Under Napoleon it was administered as the Dipartimento del Piave, which extended as far as Dobbiaco. With the Congress of Vienna, the now established province of Belluno was annexed to the Kingdom of Lombardo-Venetia in 1816 and finally became part of Italy with the Peace of Vienna (1866). During the last years of the Second World War, the provinces of Belluno, Bolzano and Trento were combined to form the Operational Zone Alpine Foothills, an intermezzo that still strains the relationship between Bellunese and German-speaking South Tyroleans today. 1963 saw the catastrophe of Longarone, which had a drastic impact on the province of Belluno: the Vajont reservoir, which was located in the province of Pordenone, was triggered by a landslide and overflowed the dam. The water masses wiped out almost 2000 lives in the village of Longarone below.