Lamon is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the province of

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 ...

in the Italian region of

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

, located about northwest of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and about west of

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,322 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat. The municipality of Lamon contains the ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Arina, Bellotti, Cess, Chioè, Oltra, Piei, Pian del vescovo, Rugna, Ronche, San Donato, Sala, and Zavena. Lamon borders the following municipalities: Arsiè, Canal San Bovo, Castello Tesino, Cinte Tesino, Fonzaso, Sovramonte.

Geography

The territory of Lamon is located between two long valleys, with the Cismon tributary to the east and the Senaiga tributary to the south, which flows into the Cismon tributary leading to the Lago di Senaiga. The municipality borders the municipalities of Belluno of Arsiè, Fonzaso and Sovramonte and the Trentino municipalities of Canal San Bovo, Castello Tesino and Cinte Tesino. The large territory of the municipality, which extends for over 54 km², is divided into three hamlets corresponding to the historic communities of Lamon, San Donato and Arina. The territory of Lamon starts at 360m asl in the Maoli hamlet and culminates at the Monte Coppolo, 2069m. The climate is alpine, with cold and dry winters and moderately hot summers with frequent breezes. The central plateau, which rises to about 600m asl, houses the capital and more than half of the entire municipal population. At a first geographical analysis, the vast and mountainous Lamonese territory presents the particular characteristics of a marked asperity and discontinuity between the various low, medium and high mountain areas. With the exception of the plateau and other small flat alluvial terraces, the morphology of the soil is alternated by steep slopes, grandiose ridges, sunny ridges and rocky buttresses that slope down between narrow valleys of wild and rare beauty. Panorama Lamon

Origins of the name

In the seventeenth century, a derivative exegesis of ''Castrum Ammonis'' was given, in reference to an alleged (and never proven) cult of ''Giove Ammone'' (

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

) on the hill of San Pietro. In fact, the toponym Lamon could refer to the proto-Italian ''lama'', attributable to the Etruscan ''lumena'' and the Latin ''lima'' ("pond", but also "landslide"). Evidence of this comes from the geological formation of the vast plateaus of Lamon and Sovramonte formed by the gradual filling of a large lake formed at the end of the last

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

, about 15,000 years ago.

History

Pre-history and ancient era

The Lamon plateau shows traces of frequentation since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the discovery of numerous objects in stone and flint. Among other things, the remarkable discovery of a prehistoric hunter occurred in 1988 in Val Rosna, on the supramontine side of the Cismon. More recently, remains of fauna fossils were found in the cave of San Donato, including the remains of the Ursus spelaeus, a large bear that was spread over the Alpine arc (today a skeleton, composed of bones of different specimens, is present in the atrium of the town hall). Research carried out by middle school students in the hamlet of Guana in 1997 uncovered arrowheads, scratchers, cores and sickle elements (flint blades) attributable to farmers who lived in the late

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period (3000 BC). In historical age, for the territory of Lamon, as the rest of Feltrino, the toponymic evidence confirms the news of

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, according to which the ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

'' of ''Feltria'' (and its territory which also included the Lamonese plateau) was inhabited by Rhaetian people, distinct from the Gallic people of nearby ''Bellunum''. Also present were Etruscan populations who fled the territory of Felsina and the

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

n plains between 450 and 350 BC. The latter, like the Reti, did not speak an Indo-European language, but instead included the

Venetic language Venetic ( ) is an extinct Indo-European language, most commonly classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po ...

, Celtic dialects,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. The niches carved in the rock of the Colle di San Pietro, at the height of the cave now dedicated to the Marian cult, are perhaps attributable to this period. With the establishment of the ''municipium'' of ''Feltria'', the Lamon plateau was affected by Romanization, especially following the preparation of the Via Claudia Augusta (today in the Lamonese tract called 'via pagana') which from ''

Altinum Altinum (in Altino, a ''frazione'' of Quarto d'Altino) was an ancient town of the Adriatic Veneti, Veneti 15 km southeast of modern Treviso, close to the mainland shore of the Lagoon of Venice. It was also close to the mouths of the rivers D ...

'' reached '' Augusta Vindelicum'' (Augusta), in the province of ''

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

''. The road, traced by Drusus and "fitted" by

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, passed directly (or a branch of it, the question is still debated) through the Lamonese territory in the direction of Castello Tesino. A settlement developed in the first centuries of the Christian era, where the hamlet of stands today, a geomorphologically suitable point for controlling the street. This is evidenced by the findings of the necropolis located downstream of today's hamlet, from which objects of burial tombs have been discovered. Recently the area has been the subject of investigations by the Superintendency which has highlighted several 2nd and 3rd century AD burials. The recovered objects are now kept in an exhibition in Lamon. Within these investigations, the wall structures at Col Furlan were also highlighted, perhaps related to the Castle of San Donato referred to in oral tradition. A second housing nucleus developed around the already popular San Pietro hill, on which it is believed that a tower was placed in order to be visually connected with other observation points located along the route of the road in the nearby Sovramonte plateau. Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century various finds from the Roman era (tombs, jewels, coins) came to light on the hill and in the surrounding area. The belt of the control stations on the Roman road finished at the Castle of Valdeniga (whose ruins were still visible in the nineteenth century). These fortresses originated in the late ancient age and then developed in the early medieval and medieval ages. In fact, in the late antiquity, the importance of the '' Via Claudia Augusta'' did not decrease. Both for the Empire and for the Germanic people, it was a path of great fruition in the 4th to 6th centuries AD. Proof of this is the ''Calice argenteo del Diacono Orso'' (silver chalice of the Deacon Bear, 6th century AD), by far one of the greatest finds of Christianity and the oldest in the Christian West. It was recovered in 1836 in a ravine near San Donato, in the Coronini area. The inscription, written in capital letters, quotes: DE DONIS DEI URSUS DIACONUS SANCTO PETRO ET SANCTO PAULO OPTULIT. It probably testifies to the birth of the diocese of Feltre in the fifth century AD. According to some, the object belonged to the deacon Ursus, who carried out a permanent and itinerant service; the chalice would have been kept in the cathedral of Feltre and hidden when the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

arrived. For others, however, a chalice of this invoice would have belonged to episcopal seats of much higher prestige, Concordia or

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

, and would have been subject to raiding and therefore hidden along the route of the '' Via Claudia Augusta''. Whatever the truth, what seems certain is that the object was voluntarily hidden, thus it was recovered intact. In this period, between the

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

and the Early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the plateau and its surroundings were affected by the allocation of people of Germanic origin. Several place names, including the Campigoti (literally, lands of the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

) are proof of this. The agricultural exploitation of some localities located on the edge of the road layout is to be ascribed to this time, as in the case of the hamlets of Rugna and Ronche (from the late Latin ''runcare'': to till the soil, deforest).

Introduction of bean cultivation

The cultivation of the well-known Lamon bean began in 1528-1532. It was initiated by the Belluno abbot Pietro Valeriano. He had used the seeds given to him by Pope Clement VII. Beans have been the staple and popular food for Lamonese cuisine for centuries. Due to its richness in proteins, it has been called the meat of the poor. The Lamonese bean has "a very thin rind and a tender pulp", which makes it sought after by gourmets."La storia, La cultura, Il Turismo, La Gastronomia, I servizi". Pro Loco Lamon, 1991

Demographic evolution

Image Gallery

Lamon. May 2019.jpg, Lamon in May Lago Senaiga. Lake Senaiga.jpg, Lake Senaiga Cascata del Salton.jpg, Cascata del Salton Monte Coppolo.jpg, Mountain Coppolo Via Roma and Mount Vallazza in Lamon.jpg, Via Roma. View on Mount Vallazza San Donato — frazione di Lamon.jpg, San Donato — frazione di Lamon Ponte Sera in Lamon.jpg, Ponte Sera in Lamon Torrent Cismon. View from Lamon.jpg, Torrent Cismon. View from Lamon The trail 12 in Arina, frazione di Lamon.jpg, The trail 12 in Arina, frazione di Lamon Sheep of Lamon.jpg, Sheep of Lamon Lamon — stage 19 of Giro d'Italia 2019.jpg, Lamon — stage 19 of Giro d'Italia 2019 Fagiolo di Lamon in the garden.jpg, Fagiolo di Lamon in the garden Fagiolo di Lamon.jpg, Fagiolo di Lamon Arina — frazione di Lamon.jpg, Arina — frazione di Lamon Festa del fagiolo. Nel tavolo Feltrino 2013 in Piazza 3 Novembre in Lamon.jpg, Festa del fagiolo 2013 Ponte Romano on the Via Claudia Augusta road in Lamon.jpg, Ponte Romano on the Via Claudia Augusta

References

External links

* Comune di Lamo

* Pro Loco Lamo

{{authority control Cities and towns in Veneto