The historic centre of Ospitale sits on a hill on the right bank of the Piave, along the busy road, dating back to Roman times, which led into the Centro Cadore area. The road was used until 1798, when it was replaced by a new route, downstream, that formed an integral part of the Strada Regia di Alemagna, built on the orders of the Austrian government of Franz I. As the industries alongside the Piave developed, the village gradually grew in size, and between 1825 and 1849, in the area near the riverbed, which came to be known as Candidopoli, Candido Coletti built twelve sawmills equipped with a series of security infrastructures that remained operative until 1940. The various outlying neighbourhoods of Ospitale, located along the flow of the Piave were also once strongly influenced by the industrial activity that took place alongside the river: Rivalgo and Macchietto, to the north, were frequented by the zattieri, who travelled up the river on their rafts to Perarolo; opposite the village of Termine (46 HAA), near the waterfall, were the La Pissa sawmills, an area indicated on a number of maps as Porto di Termine and linked to the village by a wooden bridge; most of the male population of Davestra (47 HAA), on the left bank of the Piave, were either zattieri or segat (sawmill workers). In Paluc, upstream from Davestra, important evidence has been found of a mining village there dating back to the 11th-12th century, with slow-firing kilns, iron waste materials and the remains of houses.

Along the old route of the Alemagna road, mid-way between Perarolo and Longarone.

ACCESSIBLE: yes
MUNICIPALITY: Ospitale di Cadore
PLACE: Ospitale and outlying neighbourhoods
GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES: X 1755853 – Y 5136041
PROVINCE: Belluno

FILE COMPILED BY: Bonato

In the squares of Ospitale and Termine we can see washtubs and fine fountains built in Castellavazzo stone.

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