FROM VALSUGANA AND VAL BELLUNA TO THE SMALL TOWNS OF THE SERENISSIMA REPUBLIC

(Belluno - Sacile, 65 km)

After visiting the town, we set off from the Belluno train station.

The old town is but a stone's throw away. A short visit should include the Cathedral dedicated to Saint Martin, first built in the fifteenth century, later renovated, and housing paintings by Venetian artists. Construction of the baroque bell tower only began in 1732. The piazza also features other important buildings, the most noteworthy of which is undoubtedly Palazzo dei Rettori, in Gothic-Renaissance style, which houses the Prefecture. If you have more time, it is worth visiting the Town Museum in Palazzo Fulcis and the Archaeology Museum, housed in Palazzo dei Giuristi.

Go back to the train station, then turn east into via Volontari della Libertà, turn right and cross the park Parco dell’Artigliere da Montagna on a convenient bike and pedestrian path, then continue left on via De Min. Follow this road alongside the railway tracks and you will soon come to the bridge Ponte degli Alpini, to be crossed carefully. The signage is not perfect but it is possible to ride on the protected bike and foot path on the pavement, in the travelling direction. Cross the heavily trafficked state road at the end of the bridge on a signalised pedestrian crossing, continue on a wide bike path, then turn left into via Doglioni (km 1). Continue on the bike path next to the road and follow via Doglioni around the sharp bend right, and pay attention to the roundabout because there is no bike path. Keep going straight on via Barozzi, where you’ll find the bike path on the opposite side, and follow it until the bend right. A fine, segregated bike path conveniently lets you bypass the highly trafficked road, and the same happens at the next crossroads, where you'll find a straight, segregated bike path. At km 1.8, at the junction with via Burattini, the itinerary continues on via Barozzi, on a bike lane this time, until the hamlet of Cusighe. At the next crossroads, turn left into via Cusighe, then right into via Di Foro, continue until the roundabout with via Mameli/Sala (km 2.6), and take via Cusighe again, this time eastwards. Continue on the road, where the traffic volume might be quite high at rush hour on weekdays, due to motorists avoiding the parallel state road, although they generally drive quite slowly. After via Cusighe, the road is named after the various hamlets it crosses: Sargnano, Fiammoi and Safforze. At Villa Fulcis Montalban (km 5.3), a beautiful seventeenth-century building, sadly in a state of disrepair, turn left onto a dirt road, go under the railway, then turn right onto a bike path alongside the railway tracks. Back on tarmac, you will notice the shrine of Santa Lucia on a small hillock on your left, whose presence in historical records dates back to 1362. After a short section on a road with hardly any traffic, take a fine bike path, a little over 1 km long, into the hamlet of Nuova Erto, in the municipality of Ponte nelle Alpi, which was built to provide accommodation for the displaced people from Erto and Casso, following the 1963 Vajont disaster. Turn left at the end of the bike path, at the next junction go straight, then take the road on the right, continuing along the hillside. Should you wish to go to the railway station of Ponte Nelle Alpi, we recommend taking the lower road by turning right at the second crossroads after the end of the bike path. If you continue on the higher via Nuova Erto, you will notice, now and then, the signs of the Veneto Region I4 itinerary, which you should follow. Continue on the main road and turn left at the church of Madonna di Vedoia (km 7.9), which dates to around 1730 and is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows; it holds an altarpiece by Cesare Vecellio, a lesser-known relative of Titian. At the junction with via Sant’Antonio, take a left and continue on the very narrow via Giulio Cesare, then turn right at the junction with strada Romana into via Sant’Andrea, go straight across the next crossroads, turn left at the next one into via Cadore, follow it until km 9.2 then turn right again, go up the flyover on the Calalzo line, and down onto the highly trafficked state road 51. The following 200 metres are the most difficult section of the entire route, and the recent works did little to improve the situation. Continue to the right, even on the pavement if necessary, until the signalised crossing (km 9.8), where we take the Pontealpina bike and foot path, along viale Cadore. This bike path is a little over 2 km long and completely bypasses the heavy traffic in the area, going over the A27 motorway, and connecting to the bike path from Soverzene. Turn right at the end of the bike path, then turn left into SP 4 at the first crossroads. After the bridge on the Cellina stream, you join the bike path to Lake Santa Croce in Paiane (km 12.3). Turn right into the bike path, following the regional I4 signage, continue along the canal for exactly 6 km until you arrive in Bastia, a hamlet in the municipality of Alpago, where you can already glimpse the lake. When you come out on via Grava turn left, then right on via del Mulino, and cross provincial road no. 422. Continue on a quiet lane, which soon turns into a wide bike and foot path within a pristine natural area. Cross the Tesa stream on the suspended bridge, the shore of lake Santa Croce is now very close (km 21). The lake, the region’s second largest, has natural origins dating to the Ice Age and was formed when a landslide closed the Val Lapisina, blocking the Piave River’s course toward Vittorio Veneto. The cycling itinerary continues on the eastern shore and, depending on the season, you can opt for the bike and foot path on the water's edge, thronged by walkers in spring and summer, or provincial road no. 423 from Farra d’Alpago. However, the two variants meet in Poiatte (km 23.1), and you can only continue south on the provincial road, paying attention; you then join the state road just before Sella di Fadalto, the pass at an elevation of 488 metres a.s.l., which marks the natural boundary between the provinces of Belluno and Treviso, and is the highest point of the entire stage (km 27.1). Should you need to go to the train station of Santa Croce del Lago, turn right at the junction with the state road, the station is just 2 km away. The long descent towards Vittorio Veneto from the pass is approximately 13 km long and requires the utmost attention, also owing to the possible heavy traffic, including motorbikes. For one kilometre and a half there is no alternative to the main road, but at km 28.7 the itinerary takes a right on via Fadalto Basso, a steep descent to the shore of Lago Morto at km 31.3. Continue along the shore on a fine dirt track to the southernmost point of the small lake, then continue on Via della Ferrovia, which continues behind the old Nove train station, no longer active. Go back on the state road at km 33.8 and continue for about 2 km, then turn right towards lake Restello, and continue on via delle Sorgenti until rejoining the state road again at km 37.2. One kilometre further on, turn right once again on Via del Gambero, and at the next crossroads continue on the left on Via Madonna di Lourdes. Finally, at km 39, turn left again and shortly after you glide back down on SS51, which now has lower traffic thanks to the St. Augusta tunnel bypass nearby. A short straight section leads to the ancient gate into the old town of Serravalle (km 40), the medieval part of Vittorio Veneto. Take via Caprera on the right, then via Mazzini, then, because of a one-way system, take via Gherardo da Camino to go back to the thoroughfare, and continue to Piazza Flaminio, the town's medieval heart. Serravalle, which used to be an autonomous commune, is a true treasure chest: from the Santa Maria Nova Cathedral with the altarpiece by Titian to the fourteenth-century church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist; from Palazzo della Comunità, the ancient seat of the city's government, to the Clock Tower, and many more grand religious and civil buildings. The itinerary continues in the old town, but in Piazza Foro Boario you take a left to the right bank of the Meschio river, a fine bike path that goes around the old town, paying attention to a few one-way streets that force you to take some detours away from the river.

The actual bike path continues out of Vittorio Veneto and ends in via Margogne (km 46.3) in San Giacomo di Veglia. Here, you must turn right, then take via dei Troi on the left, turn left again into via Mezzavilla, then via delle Filande, always along the Meschio. We will cross the river at km 47.3 and leave the town for good. After the bridge, continue on via Prà del Meschio, then turn right into via del Ponte until the junction at km 48.1 with via Cal Alta. Take this road on the right heading south-east, then after approximately 1 km turn left into via Prà D’Argent, at the junction with via Livel keep going straight on via Roma and you will soon reach the village of Cappella Maggiore and its beautiful piazza. The most significant building in this village, 500 metres from the centre, is undoubtedly the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Latin Capella Campestris, hence the name of the village. Already mentioned in the early 1300s, although the most ancient part is apparently of Lombard origin, it holds interesting frescoes which date back to the fourteenth-sixteenth century, the most recent of which are by Antonio Zago, a painter hailing from Bergamo who was active between 1480 and 1507. The cycling itinerary crosses the village and takes a left at the first roundabout into via Brescacin towards Sarmede, a village known for the International Exhibition of Children's Illustration, held here since 1983 and initiated by Stepan Zavrel, a Czech painter and illustrator who lived here. The murals embellishing some houses are worth a visit. Leave the village on via Mazzini and via dei Vendramin, then turn left at km 53.2 on via Palù, which you ride on for approximately 1 km before it changes to via Borgo Palù, in a charming hilly setting, amidst the expansive vineyards of excellent Prosecco grapes. At the crossroads with provincial road no. 151 (km 55.5) turn right, and after 200 metres turn left into via Cantore. In the background you will notice the village of Villa di Villa, a hamlet in the municipality of Cordignano, the last village in the Veneto region, before 'landing' in Friuli Venezia Giulia, crossing the regional border between via Cantore and via S.Paolo on the right, after which you immediately turn left into via Borgo Fontana. At the next crossroads, take a right into via D. Chiaradia, which first becomes via del Carmine then IV Novembre, skirting the hamlet of Stevenà, in the municipality of Caneva. The park of Villa Frova provides the perfect opportunity to take a little break. The villa has been open to the public since 2012, after a respectful restoration undertaken by the municipal administration, and its cultural centre is also noteworthy. From Stevenà, take via 1° Maggio, via Trento, then turn right into via E. Chiaradia. In Caneva, you can have a look at the interesting façade of the church dedicated to the Apostle Thomas, which was partly built with material recovered from the sixteenth-century theatre of the Counts Mocenigo in Cordignano. It holds an interesting triptych dating to the first half of the sixteenth century by Francesco da Milano. From Martiri Garibaldini square, continue on via Roma-SP29, then via Pradego, until the crossroads with via Canevon (km 60.2), after which keep going until via Ronche (km 62.8). Turn right into the bike path next to the road, which is separate from traffic to begin with, then turns into a bike lane, and unfortunately evaporates near a large roundabout, on the threshold of Sacile. After crossing the roundabout, keep going straight into via Ruffo, then turn left into via Venticinque Aprile and right into via G. Lacchin. Due to several one-way streets which are not contraflow, you are unable to enter the old town right away, except in a rather roundabout way: therefore, at km 64.7 turn left into via Ponte Lacchin (if you go straight you will quickly reach the train station), and after crossing the Livenza river, continue until the junction with via Balliana. Then turn left and continue northbound also when the street becomes via Mazzini, and at km 65.6 you will finally land in Piazza del Popolo, the beating heart of the town of Sacile.