Casa Gera

The building known as Casa Gera is one of the most fascinating historic palaces in Val Comelico. It stands on the site that tradition has it was once occupied by the counts Da Camino. In this place, which offers a very wide view of the valley, two nephews of Patriarch Pietro Gera of Aquileia are said to have settled in the early 1300s. From them, the family that still owns the palace and resides there during the summer months would have originated. More historically verifiable news tells us that the family's prosperity is due to Giacomo Gera (1560-1642). With the purchase and reorganization of the Stua, the dam on the Padola river that regulated the flow of the "logs," Giacomo ensured a prominent role for the Gera family in the valley's economy and beyond. Among his children, some continued their father's business, while others embraced a clerical career: among them stand out Giovanni, who was twice the General Minister of the Capuchin order under the name Fortunato da Cadore, and Bartolomeo, bishop of Feltre (1602-1681).
The Casa Gera of Candide, expanded by Giacomo starting from the remains of the ancient residence of the Caminesi, was completed and harmonized in its current form by Bishop Bartolomeo, whose episcopal coat of arms dominates the entrance portal. Since 1681, the year of his death, little has changed in the building, save for repairs following fires or wars: the furnishings, the decorated ceilings, the doors and furniture, the portraits and their frames, the emblems with Latin quotations, many everyday objects, and even the monumental entrance that faced the valley and was never completed, have all remained the same.
For those who visit today, the Casa Gera of Candide can indeed be a rare dive into a “non-refurbished” past.