Officially established in 2014 with the project "Villaggi degli alpinisti", the Piccolo anello zoldano route is an itinerary that has restored the connections of yesteryear between the villages, creating a round-trip route that runs through the hamlets of the Val di Zoldo. This simple trekking route, at a reasonably low altitude, is suitable even for hikers with a low level of training, interested in finding out more about the culture and history of the villages.
The route is 1800 metres long in total, divided into 6 stages, which can be covered individually in a maximum of two and a half hours, with an altitude difference of between 120 and 450 metres.
It starts out from Forno, where a visit is recommended to the Iron and Nail Museum, dedicated to the traditional local trade of the ciodarot, or nail makers. Continue along the easy paths through the woods, past Pralongo to Colcerver, a typical mountain village where time has stood still, with the characteristic local houses and tabià, or haysheds. The next stage of the itinerary takes in Sottorogno and Dont, with its delightful village centre and the church of Santa Caterina.
The following destinations are the villages of Foppa, Cercenà (semi-deserted and reachable only on foot) and Villa, after which the route moves on through centuries-old beech trees to Astragal (with the house where the sculptor Valentino Panciera Besarel was born), Casal and Bragarezza.
This is followed by a visit to Fornesighe, the "village that never burned", which contains some of the best-preserved rural buildings in the area, and Pieve, where the church of San Floriano is known for its Altar of the Souls in Purgatory, by Andrea Brustolon, the “Michelangelo of wood”.
Finally, the itinerary touches on the municipal area of Zoppé di Cadore, with its little villages at the foot of Monte Pelmo, the ethnographical museum dedicated to the poiat, or charcoal pits, and plenty of places linked to the lives of two great artists from Zoppé: Masi Simonetti and Fiorenzo Tomea.
