Borgo Valbelluna

Borgo Valbelluna is the newest comune in the Veneto — formed on 30 January 2019 by the administrative fusion of three pre-existing comuni in the lower Belluno province: Mel (the historic centre and BPB-inscribed town), Trichiana, and Lentiai. The fusion was driven by the standard depopulation-economy-of-scale logic for inland Veneto comuni in the Piave valley, but the cultural + visual identity of the new comune is firmly anchored on Mel. Mel is a Borghi più belli d'Italia inscribed borgo — a perfectly preserved 16th-c Venetian terraferma piazza (Piazza Papa Luciani, with the Palazzo delle Contesse, the Loggia Veneziana, the Chiesa Arcipretale di Santa Maria Annunciata, all in the warm-orange Belluno limestone)altitude in the gentle pre-Dolomite hills 18 km southwest of Belluno itself. The Veneto Republic ruled here 1404-1797 and built the surviving urban set; the Albrizzi family (Venetian nobility) held the local fief and gave the town its administrative centre. Beyond the BPB piazza: the Castello di Zumelle, 5 km west, is an 11th-c castle on a forested ridge with intact tower + walls + the legend of the Zumelle twin sisters (now a museum + medieval-themed wedding venue); the Necropoli Paleoveneta di Mel is a 7th-4th c BC pre-Roman Venetic cemetery (the most important pre-Roman site in the upper Veneto, with 400+ tombs); the Pieve di Santa Maria di Lentiai (12th-c Romanesque, with a Cima da Conegliano altarpiece). The whole comune is Bandiera Arancione (Touring Club). Beyond architecture: the Piave river runs through the valley (the river of Italian WWI memory, with the WWI Italian-Austrian front line 5 km south), the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park is 20 km north, the Valbelluna route into the upper Cordevole + Agordo valleys leads to the Pelmo + Civetta Dolomite massifs. The food is pre-Alpine Veneto: pastin (the local fresh-meat patty, a Belluno specialty), schiz (the fried fresh cheese), polenta + selvaggina (venison), the local Soligo and Vincheto white wines from the Soligo valley. The Festa di San Donato (Mel's patron, second Sunday of October) is the year's main event. Population: 13,410 across the three former comuni, with Mel as the visual + cultural centre.