Piazzale Dantesco

Behind the apse of Belluno's cathedral the ground falls away, and the city keeps an open terrace there in the poet's name. Piazzale Dantesco marks the edge of the medieval town, with roofs, the river plain and Dolomite peaks in view.

Why it matters

The official park portal describes Belluno as the porta delle Dolomiti, a city that has "the first Dolomite mountains for a scenic backdrop", with Monte Serva watching over the rooftops and the rock needle of the Gusela del Vescovà as the symbol of both mountain and city. The municipal tourism portal likewise presents the historic centre through its "strategic and panoramic position over the Piave valley". Piazzale Dantesco is one of the points where that position becomes an experience rather than a slogan: a public terrace at the edge of the sacred quarter, behind the cathedral complex, opening the view across the Valbelluna toward the mountain groups that close the horizon, with the Schiara at the northern end of the skyline. The name itself carries history — Belluno's public devotion to Dante dates from the patriotic year 1865.

What to notice

The cathedral's eastern end and campanile frame the view. Below, the roofs of the old town step down toward the Piave, which loops around the city with its tributary the Ardo. Beyond the valley floor, the broad basin of the Valbelluna lies among the pre-Alps, with mountain ranges rising in layers and Dolomite walls visible on clear days. The terrace forms a hinge between the dense sacred centre and the surrounding landscape.

Context and history

Belluno's Dante cult is documented precisely. On 15 May 1865, during the celebrations for the sixth centenary of the poet's birth and while Austria still garrisoned the city, the citizens reworked the gate at the head of today's Piazza dei Martiri into Porta Dante, crowning it with a bronze bust by Luigi Borro and a bronze lily of Florence; the Dante-named street toward the station carries the dedication through the city (see the city's Dante dedication). The terrace behind the cathedral shares that dedication in its very toponym, the Piazzale Dantesco, and the city's official catalogues also call it the Belvedere del Piave — the view-hunting tradition that made this small capital a necessary stop for travellers bound for the mountains. The terrace expresses why the city grew on this balcony above the valley.