Discover what to do in Rivamonte Agordino in Province of Belluno: the Sant’Antonio festival, Casera Amarol, the Val Imperina mines, the church of San Floriano. Want to find out more? First of all…
Where is Rivamonte Agordino located?
The municipality of Rivamonte Agordino borders north on Agordo, to the south with Gosaldo and Sospirolo, to the east with La Valle Agordina and Sedico, to the west with Voltago Agordino and Gosaldo.
The Sant’Antonio festival
According to the liturgical calendar, the day dedicated to Sant’Antonio da Padova is June 13. In the municipality of Rivamonte Agordino, the feast in honor of the Patron Saint also takes place on the days before and after this date.
The 2024 edition of the Sant’Antonio festival took place from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 June at the house of youth (sports field), near the parish church of San Floriano in Via Roma, 4.
The celebration combines the solemnity of Holy Mass and the Procession with the lively, carefree atmosphere of a festival from times gone by, featuring live music, charity raffles and tempting food and wine specialties, from hearty sandwiches to exquisite gnoc con la poina. The latter is a dairy specialty similar to ricotta, obtained by boiling the whey that separates from the curd during the making of mountain pasture cheese.
Poina enfumegada is made by smoking this tasty dairy product, making it excellent for seasoning pasta, gnocchi and many other delicious dishes.
If you’re wondering what to do in Rivamonte Agordino, the Sant’Antonio festival is a recommended event for those who want to spend the spring season in the setting of a welcoming mountain community surrounded by sunny mountain huts, ancient beech woods and conifer forests touched to the north by the Cordevole stream, overlooked to the west by the steep peaks of Monte Armarolo and Monte Agner, and dominated to the east by the colossal mass of the Monti del Sole.
For more information about this engaging popular event, you can visit the Facebook page PRO LOCO Rivamonte.
The Val Imperina mines
Reachable via a wooden bridge that connects the banks of the Cordevole stream, the mines of Val Imperina bear witness to the importance that the extraction of copper, lead, gold and silver held in the Lower Agordino since the dawn of the 15th century.
Enhanced after decades of abandonment, the mining center of Valle Imperina has been converted into a museum and is now one of the most significant examples of industrial archaeology in the Veneto region.
Casera Amarol
The starting point of the itinerary is the large square paved with cobblestones in front of the church of San Floriano.
The parish church of Rivamonte Agordino
Characterized by a majestic double-pitched façade, the 19th-century place of worship is accessed through a large portal topped by a projecting curved pediment. The elegant entrance door is framed by two pairs of fluted Corinthian pilasters, above which stand the lintel and a dentil cornice. At the height of the Corinthian capitals extends a decorative band marked by vegetal motifs.
At the ends of the front, two soaring pilasters support the frieze punctuated by triglyphs and metopes, beneath which the initials D.O.M. stand out in golden letters. Concluding the vertical development of the structure is the triangular pediment crowned by three pinnacles.
This latter houses a valuable pipe organ, enchanting altars in polychrome marble, a painting depicting the Holy Trinity, rare statues of the twelve apostles as well as a wooden sculpture by Andrea Brustolon.
Getting to Casera Amarol
Leave the façade of the place of worship behind you and head southwest, keeping right on Via Canop. Cross the center of Rivamonte Agordino via Via Rosson and Via Villagrande, then, just before Panificio Alimentari Orzetti, turn right and continue along Via Villagrande for about 1.5 km, walking at the foot of a wooded hill.
The start of the hiking trail is at a characteristic stone-and-wood house near the sign for locality Casera (46.239442154824715, 12.012766353232026). The path leading to the refuge winds along a white trail that quickly enters the lush tree vegetation covering the bright hillside.
Surrounded by dense vegetation of oaks, ashes, field maples, poplars, pines, firs and many other lush tall trees, Casera Amarol is a lovely mountain refuge from whose commanding position it is possible to take in the extraordinary panorama of the Pale di San Martino, the peaks of Monte Civetta, Moiazza, Cima di San Sebastiano and the Monti del Sole.
