The Colmeda torrent, almost completely dammed up on the final stretch, before it enters the town of Feltre, runs right through the nearby village of Pedavena. Still clearly visible here is the outline of the original Pedavena Brewery, built in 1896 by the Luciani family, who had previously brewed beer and traded in timber in the Agordino area. The fine quality of the water and the position of the brewery proved fundamental to the success of the business, which soon expanded significantly. Following the rebuilding of the premises in the post-war period, the group went from strength to strength, acquiring a leading position on the Italian market. In 1925, in addition to beer, the company began producing bovis, a food extract made from beer yeast, and a hydroelectric plant was created on the Colmeda to serve the facility. Work began afresh with renewed vigour after the war, under the management of the children of the founder, and thanks to the restaurant, beer garden, mini-zoo and gardens, as well as the events held there, the complex gradually became one of the most popular attractions in the Feltrino area. The largest-scale renovation of the machinery and the premises, clearly intended to make the complex more attractive following the earlier extension work carried out in 1910-11 and 1919-20, took place at the end of the 1930s, with the addition of the bar and restaurant, in a successful attempt to recreate the setting typical of the large German brewing establishments. Particularly attractive are the hall of the restaurant and the long room of the brewery, frescoed in 1940 by Walter Resenterra, which open out onto skilfully landscaped gardens. 
A little further up from the square in Pedavena is one of the most impressive residences in the area. Villa Pasole Berton (25 HAA/IA), now privately owned, was, during the 18th century, a meeting place for writers and poets, and in 1962 became the representation office of the Società Birreria Pedavena. Especially worth admiring is the fish pond opposite the villa, into which fine- quality water flows at a constant temperature from the many springs in the area that the nineteenth-century local historian Antonio Vecellio suggested be used for spa therapy.

From the SS50 through Feltre, after the bridge over the Colmeda, follow the signs for Pedavena along the street of the same name; after 1800 m, on the left of the road you will see the unmistakable outline of the brewery. To get to Villa Pasole, continue towards the centre of Pedavena, and in the little square, take the road on the left (Via Trento or Via S. Osvaldo), going round the edge of the villa gardens.

ACCESSIBLE: yes
MUNICIPALITY: Pedavena
PLACE: Pedavena
GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES: X 1724816 – Y 5100315
PROVINCE: Belluno

FILE COMPILED BY: Antoniol

The roggia dei mulini is an irrigation channel that draws off water from the Colmeda for industrial uses, starting out from Pedavena and flowing right into the Sonna, just south of Feltre. Today it is almost entirely constrained within narrow underground pipes, although it still serves a few industrial establishments. During the last hundred years, 28 establishments were supplied by the irrigation channel, mainly corn mills, followed by forges, presses and sawmills, as well as the occasional fulling plant, located at regular intervals along the channel, often forming settlements that took on their names, such as Sega Bassa, Fusigne, Vicolo delle Scorzerie. On the road from Pedavena towards Feltre the following can be found: just after the dam, at Vallade, the Turrin mills and the Zucco mill and sawmills; then, at Sega Bassa, the Guerriero mill and the De Carli forge; after the first crossing over the Colmeda, at Fusigne, the Ropele sawmill and the Carniel mill; in Farra, the Norcen, Guerriero and Dalla Favera mills and the Plancher sawmill; just before the second crossing over the Colmeda, the D’Alberto mill and sawmill. Where the Colmeda meets the Uniera, there is the Pozzobon dye-works and Manifattura Piave; just before the Tezze bridge in Feltre the Pozzobon wool mill, and just after the same bridge the Plancher mill. Along the stretch that runs from where the irrigation channel takes east to the point where it meets the Sonna, we can see the Dalla Piazza mill-press-sawmill, another Pozzobon wool mill, two presses (Dal Covolo and Valduga), the Dalla Favera-Opalio mill and the Altanon and Gorza mills and sawmills.

D. Ricci Sernagiotto, La fabbrica di birra di Pedavena (Belluno), in Archeologia industriale nel Veneto, Venice, 1990
Liceo Classico Panfilo Castaldi Feltre, L’Uomo, l’acqua, il territorio. Storia minuta della gente comune nel territorio feltrino lungo l’ asta del torrente Colmeda, Feltre, 1988