Il Castello di Caneva

On our last full day in the Dolomites, we were torn between heading to the slopes once more and exploring the town we were staying in - Aviano. Since it was an Italian holiday, we shied away from the slopes, thinking they'd be a little too crowded for our novice selves. We knew things in town would be quiet but it was essentially a ghost town when we set foot in the main piazza. I half expected to see tumbleweeds rolling across the steps of the local Duomo.


So we hopped back into the car and decided to take off spontaneously, hoping we'd run across something interesting (and open). We first instructed the Tom-Tom to take us to Trieste. Wow - 2.5 hours? Nevermind. How about Udine? That's a big-ish city, right? Oh, two hours and countless euros of gasoline...forget it. The National Park of the Dolomites? Ugh, my stomach and vertigo can't take any more winding roads. So...let's just drive.

Heading down a road that ran along the bottom of the Dolomite range, we were lulled into relaxation by the snow-peaked mountains and the bare foliage surrounding us. We passed countless vineyards (the wine of the region is excellent) and several small towns. However, we didn't pull into any of the towns instead opting for the beautiful scenery accompanying us on this quiet country roads. Just when we were starting to think about a different venue we saw the sign.

Il Castello di Caneva, the Caneva Castle.

Castle, we thought. We like castles.

So up we went. First on paved roads that curled around large hills and small mountains. Then, on some not-so-paved roads that made yours truly a little nervous. It's not that I'm afraid of a little gravel. Or the San Francisco grade steepness. It's more the extreme height we were climbing, coupled with the narrow road and the lack of guardrail. If I hadn't been driving, I would've closed by eyes and held my breath til the top!


When we reached the top, we were initially disappointed to see that it was closed. Without another car or human in sight, we figured it was shut down for the holiday. Upon further inspection, however, we noticed that there was no chiuso signs and nothing to stop us from hiking from the parking lot to the castle on high.


As far as castles go, this one wasn't anything particularly special on it's own. There was no historical information posted but the internet tells me it was built in the medieval ages and in use through the 19th century. The walls of the castle were crumbling down but the church seemed to be in good condition. I was surprised until, reading online, I learned that the Chiesa di San Tommaso was re-built in the early nineteenth century. We couldn't get inside but were able to walk around the exterior, where the cemetery happened to be. Some of the graves were a couple hundred years only while some were as recent as the 1980s. We perched at the top of the hill to take in the view below. That same position was once taken by Fruili watchmen, looking out for Turkish invaders in the 1500s. Later, it was viewed through the eyes of the French and Austrian/Hapsburg occupiers. However, on this quiet day in Caneva, Italy, the view existed only for us.