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CALALZO DI CADORE |
  
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| Calalzo is almost certanly the oldest settlement in Cadore. Indeed, about 2,500 years ago there stood in Lagole a sanctuary for a healing divinity. Many archaeological finds, such as brass statuetted and a great number of inscriptions, which were unearthed in that area are currently on display at the Pieve Museum. At the end of the 19th century Calalzo left behind its pastoral, secular days and gradually became the largest commercial and industrial centre in Cadore. In 1878 Giovanni Lozza and brothers Angelo and Leone Frescura founded the first modern eyeglass factory on the banks of the Molinà. This entrepreneurial activity, which has characterised the town ever since that time, has made the words Made in Cadore known around the world to stand for high quality and superior product design. Calalzo has for centuries been a very active municipality, drafting its constitution as far back as 1272. Here were born the sculptor Michelangelo Stuffo (18th-century) and the machine expert and astronomer Bartolomeo Toffoli (1755-1834). The town, with a population of about 2,400 (including the village of Rizzios ), is located at the geographical heart of Cadore, not far from Pieve, at an excellent position on a morainic terrace along the lake shores near the openings of the Oten and Molinà valleys. In 1914 Calalzo became an important railroad junction, the last stop on the line Venice-Cadore. Edifices of special interest are the parish church of San Biagio, known for its four little portals (Annunciation, Nativity, Epiphany, Presentation in the Temple) by Orazio Vecellio, son of Titian; and the church of Santa Anna in Rizzios where fine 17th-century canvases, among them Frigimelica's Crowned Virgin and Child with Franciscan Saints, and various 18th-century reliquaries are on display. Also recommended is a walk to Lagole, near the railway station, with its ferruginous springs famous for their healing properties. According to legend this garden of flowing water was the home of the mythical Anguanas, women with pretty faces and long breasts who walked on goat's feet. These fabulous creatures are the subjects of many local legends. Nature lovers are invited to venture into the wild and out-of-the-way Oten valley. Such hike may be taken to the Galassi Lodgings (2,018m.), atop the Antelao, or the Chiggiato Lodgings (1,911m.), at the foot of the central Marmarole Mountains, or the Pile Falls (near the Alpini Cabin) which were formed by the turbulent currents of the Oten River.
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