The ALPE MADRE refuge is located between Col Moschin and Col Fenilon
on the Grappa massif. 40 beds are available. This region of rolling
hills, overlooking the plain at the mouth of the Brenta Valley,
is called the Colli Alti. It was first mentioned in 980 AD, when
the duke of Carinthia, Otto II, confirmed the Collalto family, the
counts of Treviso, as owners of the Alpes Maidre (the previous name
of the Grappa massif).
|
The
Alpe Madre was built in the 19th century by the Mattiel family at
a time when cattle breeding and the timber trade were flourishing.
After
the first world war the building was donated to Don Rubbi, and he
used it as a summer resort for the children of the parish.
|
In
the following years villa Rubbi hosted many prelates: among them Angelo
Roncalli, patriarch of Venice and future pope Giovanni XXIII, and
monsignor Carlo Agostini.
A
small chapel was also built in the house. A double lancet window (bifora)
in the Venetian style is on the southern wall of the building, a very
unusual feature in this region.
Later the building was donated to a Bassano foundation, and in 1996
it was finally restored and turned into a mountain refuge.
traslation
cortesy by Claudio Caputo (Norwich) |
