In the heart of Borgo Valbelluna lies the Civic Archaeological Museum of Mel, housed in the refined Palazzo delle Contesse.
The building, an elegant Venetian villa from the late 18th century recognizable by its "pine cone" chimneys of Venetian tradition, is already a small architectural gem in itself: built by the Del Zotto family, it preserves inside a noble hall with a Venetian floor decorated with the phoenix, the heraldic symbol of the Papadopoli, and a fresco attributed to the Belluno painter Antonio Bettio. Since 1996, this prestigious palace has become a museum hosting extraordinary artifacts that tell over forty thousand years of history, from early Paleolithic settlements to medieval testimonies.
The establishment of the museum was strongly desired by the local community and the administrations that worked in close collaboration with the Superintendency to give new life to the materials that emerged especially from the excavations of the pre-Roman necropolis of Mel, one of the most important sites in Veneto and northern Italy. The Museum of Mel is not an isolated place but constantly interacts with the surrounding territory.
Borgo Valbelluna stretches across a fertile basin traversed by the Piave River, bordered to the north by the Dolomiti Bellunesi – UNESCO World Heritage Site – and to the south by the Prealps. It is a landscape that combines nature and history: the same mountains that today attract hikers and nature lovers were for centuries routes of passage, crossroads of trade and cultures. Visiting the Museum thus means immersing oneself in a narrative that begins with the first communities of hunters, passes through the communities of the ancient Veneti and the Roman era, and reaches the Middle Ages, restoring to the visitor the deep memory of these valleys.
The Civic Archaeological Museum of Mel is a cultural reference point: it houses unique artifacts but above all enhances the long history of the local community by placing it in the broader mosaic of European civilizations. An unmissable stop for those who wish to discover, alongside the natural and architectural beauties of Valbelluna, the millennial roots that have shaped its soul.
