Discover Cesiomaggiore: Culture and Mountain Landscapes

Museum, Church Art and Historic Villas

The Museo Etnografico Dolomiti is housed in a 19th-century country villa that formerly belonged to the Counts Avogadro degli Azzoni. The collections showcase traditional crafts, domestic activities, religious practices, clothing, migration and primary activities from the 18th to the 21st century. The museum is surrounded by an area of more than 4 hectares comprising meadows, woodland and fields.

The museum also has a sound archive containing thousands of recordings. These include fairy tales, legends, songs and oral testimonies about wet nurses, migration, shepherds, alpine farming, craft activities and culinary traditions. The material can be consulted on request. A visit to the museum therefore offers not only exhibition spaces, but also access to transmitted voices and everyday practices.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore was founded in 1184 and rebuilt and expanded between 1785 and 1791. Inside, a baptismal font dated 1483 and later works of art have been preserved. Another historical connection leads to Villa Tauro detta “delle Centenère”, one of the early examples of a Bellunese manor house from the 17th century. The villa contains a milestone of the Via Claudia Augusta Altinate, discovered in 1786 in the parish church of Cesio. Cesiomaggiore is therefore home to one of the two milestones of this Via Claudia Augusta that have survived to the present day.

The park belonging to Villa Tauro detta “delle Centenère” is also steeped in history. It slopes down towards the Valle del Caorame and was laid out in the second decade of the 19th century. Its original design included avenues, groups of trees, a heart-shaped pond or lake, and an English oak woodland. Today, only young specimens remain of the oaks.

From Lago della Stua to I Piani Eterni

Lago della Stua is an artificial lake with an easy circular path along its shore. It lies in the Parco Nazionale delle Dolomiti Bellunesi and is a starting point for high-altitude hikes to the Vette Feltrine and the Cimonega Group, which belong to Group 3 of the UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites. Rare plants grow in the area around the lake; with a little luck, deer and mouflon can be spotted there.

The hike to I Piani Eterni begins at the former Albergo Alpino Boz in Val Canzoi near Cesiomaggiore, at an elevation of 660 metres. It first leads to Lago della Stua and then continues along CAI Trail 802. The route initially follows a steep forest road and then a woodland path. I Piani Eterni itself is an extensive karst plateau in the Parco Nazionale delle Dolomiti Bellunesi, offering great natural diversity and opportunities to observe wildlife.

Cycling Route with Historical Significance

The 655-kilometre Ciclovia Claudia Augusta provides the area's wider regional context. It runs from Altino in the Province of Venice to Donauwörth on the Danube in Germany. Together with the surviving milestones and historic buildings, this route makes the landscape's ancient and modern connections visible, without implying that the individual remains share the same function or period.

More Destinations in This Overview

For further orientation, you will also find Longarone, Canai, Castello Lavazzo, Danta, Pieve Di Cadore, Santa Giustina, San Pietro di Cadore and Colmean.

For the overarching travel overview: Belluno.