The Cansiglio, a plateau of the Carnic Pre-Alps located across the provinces of Belluno, Treviso, and Pordenone, rises above the Veneto-Friuli plain to the south and east with its outer slopes, while to the north it is bordered by the Alpago region and to the northeast by the Cavallo mountain group; finally, to the west, the Val Lapisina separates it from Col Visentin.
In its characteristic basin shape, it consists of three depressions in its central part: Pian Cansiglio, Valmenera, and Cornesega, where the lowest altitude (898 m) is reached.
Of interest was the presence of the Cimbri, groups of German-speaking woodsmen who, around 1100-1300, came from an area between Tyrol and Bavaria to move into Italy. The first Cimbri arrived in Cansiglio as seasonal woodsmen, probably leaving Roana in the 18th century, and built their villages on the Plateau, which are still present today in the localities of Vallorch and Pian Osteria.
