A German-speaking language island below Mount Peralba, with its hamlets of timber houses and the springs of the River Piave.
A short history
Sappada, Plodn in the local tongue, sits at 1,245 metres at the northern tip of Cadore, where the Veneto meets Friuli and Austria. It is a language island: people here still speak an archaic German dialect, plodarisch, brought around the year 1000 by settlers who came from the Austrian valley of Villgraten.
The village is not a single built-up centre but a line of fifteen hamlets strung along the road, each with its own old name. The oldest keep their timber blockbau houses, with logs notched at the corners and sunny balconies. Sappada Vecchia, the uppermost hamlet, is the most intact part and shows how life once went among haymaking, forests and long winters.
Just above the village, below Mount Peralba, the River Piave rises. The river Italians call sacred to the homeland starts here as a small trickle among the stones. Until 2017 Sappada belonged to the province of Belluno in the Veneto; then, by referendum, it passed to Friuli, yet it stays tied to the Comelico and to the Dolomites around it.
What to see
- The springs of the Piave, below the Peralba, where the great Venetian river begins its course.
- The timber hamlets of Sappada Vecchia, the notched-log houses of the oldest part of the village.
- The Mühlbach waterfalls, among the woods near the village, reached by an easy walk.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to see in Sappada?
The springs of the Piave below the Peralba, the timber hamlets of Sappada Vecchia with their notched-log houses and the Mühlbach waterfalls. A walk through the fifteen hamlets is also worth it to hear the local German dialect.
Why is German spoken in Sappada?
Because it is a German-speaking language island. Around the year 1000 settlers arrived from the Austrian valley of Villgraten and brought an archaic German dialect, plodarisch, still alive among the residents.