On a hill in the Valbelluna, between Belluno and Feltre, Mel is one of the oldest villages in the area: today the main town of the municipality of Borgo Valbelluna, it is officially listed among “Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages”.
A village of pre-Roman origins
Mel stands on a hill at about 350 metres above sea level, on the left bank of the Piave, in the heart of the Valbelluna. The area preserves one of the most important pre-Roman Venetic necropolises of the Iron Age (8th-5th century BC), now documented in the Civic Archaeological Museum housed in Palazzo delle Contesse. The village’s name is thought to derive from “Castrum Gemellarum”, the “twin” castles of Zumelle and the now-destroyed Castelvint, testifying to a very ancient fortified origin.
In medieval times Mel was the seat of an important parish from as early as the end of the 5th century. From 1404 to 1797 the territory was under the Republic of Venice, governed for centuries by the Zorzi counts and, later, by the Gritti family. Since 30 January 2019, Mel has merged, together with Lentiai and Trichiana, into the new municipality of Borgo Valbelluna, of which it is today the main town.
Piazza Papa Luciani and the historic palaces
The historic centre gathers around the trapezoidal Piazza Papa Luciani, named after Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani, 1912-1978), born in Canale d’Agordo and linked to this territory as Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, the diocese to which Mel’s parish belongs, before becoming Patriarch of Venice and then Pope.
On the square stands the sixteenth-century Palazzo Zorzi (around 1510), once the seat of the Magnificent Community of Mel and today the town hall, recognisable by its civic tower with a working clock. A short distance away stands the seventeenth-century Palazzo delle Contesse, home to the civic archaeological museum.
One of Italy’s most beautiful villages
Mel has been an official member of the association “Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages” since 2017, the same year it also received the Orange Flag from the Touring Club Italiano, a recognition later reconfirmed in subsequent years. Two distinctions that reward the quality of the village’s historic-architectural heritage and its tourist hospitality.
Worth seeing nearby
Mel is an excellent base for exploring the Valbelluna: nearby lies the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park, and the area is crossed by the Val Belluna cycling loop, a route that touches several villages in the valley.
Sources: Wikipedia, Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, Touring Club Italiano.