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Belluno.
Sea-deep, mountain-high
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Feel
like staying in town this Spring? Then go and visit
the Dolomites. No, we're not joking: if you don't
believe us take a trip to Belluno. Seeing is believing
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Don't
blink . . . it's Belluno
Welcome to Belluno, whose very name, from
the Celtic "belo dunum" - beautiful
sky, seems to describe the breathtaking views of
the mountains silhouetted against the horizon. In 1999 Belluno (for
those of you who don't know, we're in the Veneto region) was named "Alpine Town of the Year"
and since then has enjoyed a notable increase in
popularity. Up until then Belluno, much to the chagrin
of its eminent citizens, such as writer and journalist
Dino Buzzati, had been largely ignored by
the rest of Italy. Buzzati, who deeply loved his
home town, believed that Belluno's impopularity
was unintentional and was due to the town's misfortunate
position. Thousands of people pass through Belluno
both in winter and in summer but few them take the
time to stop off. Indeed they hardly even slow down
to take a look out of their car windows in their
rush to get to the mountains. The Dolomites and
Cortina D'Ampezzo have cast their shadow on the
pretty town of Belluno.
(Read La mia Belluno, by Dino Buzzati, published
by Comunità Montana Bellunese 1992, Italian
only. The Tartar Steppe, by Buzzati is published
in English by Penguin
A fusion of mountains and sea
There's more to Belluno than its position at
the foot of the mountains. Belluno is an enigmatic
solitary town with its quiet squares, Mediaeval
and Renaissance streets and Venetian-style buildings.
Especially during the winter months when the streets
are covered with snow and the main square, Campedel
is starkly silent.
Belluno's charm, in the words of Buzzati, lies in
its mixture of two very different worlds: Venice with its unmistakable architecture and the fabled
North with its mysterious mountains and long winter
nights. In the centre of town you can see buildings
"that have made their way up from the coast
" while in the outskirts there are country-style
houses that "have come down from the mountains"
making for an eclectic, fairy-tale like effect.
On a clear winter's day this fusion of sea and mountains
becomes even more apparent in the crystalline blue
of the sky. The same sky that draws tourists from
the plain, weekend after weekend.
Walk in the park
Don't go to Belluno without visiting the Parco Naturale
delle Dolomiti Bellunesi.
In creating the Park the town of Belluno was
way ahead of its time in its desire to protect the
environmental and cultural heritage of the area.
Traditional farming methods are also actively promoted
and sponsored. Tourists have been coming to the
area since the 18th Century drawn by
the spectacular scenery and the variety of rare
Alpine plants and flowers. Thanks to the Park the
natural beauty of the environment has remained virtually
unchanged. The Park covers an area on the south-eastern
edge of the Alps and includes some of the steepest
and most inaccessible parts of the range.
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by
DARIO
MORGANTE |
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March
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
