Cansiglio ( or ) is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

in the northern-Italian pre-Alps, included in the provinces of Belluno,

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

and

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian language, Venetian and ) is a city and (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the capital of the Province of Pordenone, Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone. The name comes from Lati ...

. Cansiglio is home to a very small

Language island A language island (a calque of German ''Sprachinsel''; also language enclave, language pocket) is an enclave of a language that is surrounded by one or more different languages. The term was introduced in 1847. Many speakers of these languages als ...

Cimbrian Cimbrian (, ; ; ) is any of several local Upper German varieties spoken in parts of the Italian regions of Trentino and Veneto. The speakers of the language are known as in German. Cimbrian is a Germanic language related to Bavarian most ...

Geography

The plateau rises immediately above the

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

below, at more than above the sea level. It is in fact formed by a basin surrounded by rocky peaks, such as Monte Costa, the Cima Valsotta, Monte Millifret, Pizzoc and the Monte Cavallo; these mountains separate the Cansiglio from the short Val Lapisina valley and from Piancavallo. The plateau has a limestone soil and features several examples of

Karst topography Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

which produces depressions and gorges and several

sinkholes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

and

ponor A ponor is a natural opening where surface water enters into underground passages; they may be found in Karst topography, karst landscapes where the geology and the geomorphology is typically dominated by porous limestone rock. Ponors can drain s ...

s. The main ones are the ''Bus de la Lum'', '' Bus della Genziana'' and ''Abisso del Col della Rizza'', with a deepness of, respectively, -180, -585 and -794 meters. Most of the territory of Cansiglio is covered by woods, mostly composed of local

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

es, although there are also non-autochthonous coniferous trees such as the

European spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clos ...

. Due to the climatic characteristics of the plateau, the vegetation follows a more inverted distribution than usual: species typical of colder environments occupy the lower altitudes, and those typical of milder ones are at higher altitudes.

Anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all regions except Australia, New Zealand, and ...

s grow in large number under the beeches in summer. Large open spaces are used as pastures for

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...

History

Pre-historic remains showed that the area was inhabited since as early as the 8th millennium BC. However, the area is mentioned officially for the first time in a 923 document, a diploma by which emperor

Berengar I of Italy Berengar I (; ; 845 – 7 April 924) was the king of Italy from 887 and Holy Roman Emperor, emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, bu ...

donated it to the bishop of Belluno. An 1185 papal bull issued by Lucius III called it ''Campum silium''. In 1404, together with

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

, the area became part of

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. The Cansiglio forest provided timber for uses such as Venetian shipbuilding and wood for

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloqui ...

's violins, leading to the forest's depletion. After the collapse of Venice and the period of Austrian dominance, the area became a statal property under the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

(late 19th century). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Cansiglio was the seat of partisan resistance against the German occupation. After a mop-up operation in late August-early September 1944, which ended with a German-

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

victory, the ''Bus de la Lum'' was used as an improvised cemetery for casualties from both sides, as well as of local civilians killed by the Germans after the partisans had escaped.

References

External links

Cansiglio website

Page at the Veneto region website

{{coord, 46.067, 12.405, type:_region:, display=title Landforms of Veneto Landforms of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Karst Plateaus of Italy