THE ROMANS AT ALTITUDE
Description
In many municipalities in the
province of Belluno, archaeological finds have been made which testify to the presence of Roman
municipia and ancient Roman roads; but the discovery of architectural remains which indicate the existence of a Mediterranean culture in the
East Tyrol was truly an exceptional event.
Aguntum [1] (which today lies on the road between
Lienz and Spittal), which was already a trading centre of the region, was proclaimed a Roman
municipium midway through the 1
st century A.D. It was situated in an extremely favourable position with respect to the trade routes, at the crossroads between the
Drava Valley and the Iselsberg, and the metal, timber, cattle, resin and cheese trade flourished there until at least 600 A.D. Today visitors can discover just how splendid the ancient Roman city once was by taking a trip around the modern architecture of the
Museum, with its information panels and displays of archaeological finds, the jewel in the crown of which is a marble basin from the atrium house, placed here to preserve it. In addition to the Museum, the archaeological area offers various points of interest: a Paleochristian church and the massive city walls, the Roman baths and the craftsmen’s quarter, the
domus and a watchtower.
The Romans also left behind important traces in Pieve di Cadore [2], in the province of Belluno, and the town has decided to protect these traces with a modern structure made in glass and steel. Man was, in fact, present throughout the Cadore area as far back as Prehistoric times, but the Ancient Venetians were the first to create an organized, structured civilization there. The Romans began to colonize the North of Belluno in the 2nd century B.C.; the Cadore subsequently became part of the X Regio Venetia et Histria and came under the administration of Iulium Carnicum. The numerous finds from the Roman Age uncovered over the years are today on display in the Museum of the Magnifica Comunità in Pieve di Cadore, but what is even more fascinating is the Villa, dating back to somewhere between the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century A.D., found beneath the Town Hall and today restored. A modern glass structure has been put in place to protect it, and allows visitors to admire the fine mosaics with stylized animal patterns and the characteristic ipocaustum, a sophisticated underfloor heating system. The suspensurae, or raised floor, system is clearly visible, with its stone chip plates and a few fragments of the tegulae roof tiles arranged neatly in rows, and you can also see a section of the perimeter wall, the combustion chamber and a corridor which linked it to the suspensurae. The Villa was clearly also decorated throughout, as we can see from the fragments of plaster. [I.A.]
by the way
Another important archaeological site in the province of Belluno is the one under the courtyard in front of the Cathedral of
Feltre. On a surface of around 1000 m2 you can see the remains of the Roman city, which include a part of one of the quarters of the municipium, with private houses and a number of rooms used as shops, which look onto a paved street. In the middle of the archaeological area you can see what remains of a large building with marble and mosaic floors. It is clear that there were human settlements here throughout the area’s history, because alongside the Roman remains we can find a mediaeval building with a central courtyard and a circular-shaped baptistry (late 11th-12th century). The municipum of Feltre lay on the important route which ran from Asolo to Belluno, in the centre of the Piave Valley along the
Via Claudia Augusta Altinate Roman road.
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