Top 20 Natural Monuments around Mel

The Brent de l'Art are one of Veneto's most fascinating hidden treasures, located in the province of Belluno, specifically in Sant'Antonio Tortal. They are not simple caves, but imposing canyons carved into the rock by the millennia-old erosive action of the Ardo stream. Their most spectacular feature lies in the rock walls, which display perfect, warm-toned stratifications, ranging from brick red to grey and white, creating a breathtaking chromatic contrast with the clear waters of the stream. This almost science-fiction-like landscape, reminiscent of the famous American canyons in miniature, was formed by the friction of water, pebbles, and ice over thousands of years. The site is easily accessible with a short walk through the woods and is a must-see destination for lovers of trekking, photography, and rural geology.

Il Molinetto della Croda, in the Lierza valley, represents one of the most evocative corners of the Marca Trevigiana. In its almost four centuries of history, the ancient mill with a stone grinder has managed to maintain its charm and enchant artists and visitors.

The Memoriale del Bosco delle Penne Mozze, located in Cison di Valmarino, is a striking open-air sanctuary honoring the sacrifice of the Trevigian Alpini who fell in war. Inaugurated in 1972, this site stands out for its perfect fusion of nature and historical memory. Along the paths of the San Daniele stream valley, there are over two thousand iron steles, the work of sculptor Simon Benetton, each dedicated to a fallen soldier. The term "penne mozze" (broken quills) symbolically refers to the black feathers on the Alpini hats, broken by death. Walking in the silence of the woods, visitors also encounter the statue of the Cristo degli Alpini, in an atmosphere of deep spirituality. It is not a mere celebratory monument, but a path of reflection where the memory of the fallen lives in the breath of the trees and the murmur of the water.

The Brent de l'Art are gorges delimited by rock walls, dug over time by the Ardo torrent. They derive from a change in the course of the Ardo, which occurred due to the clogging of the original riverbed by a landslide

The "Bosco delle Penne Mozze" is a memorial dedicated to the Treviso Alpine troops who died in war, located in Cison di Valmarino. Reasons to visit the Bosco delle Penne Mozze: • The forest offers a place of silence and reflection. Visitors can honor the memory of those who lost their lives in war. • The forest extends over 16,000 square meters and is home to 2,400 steles created by the sculptor Simon Benetton, arranged in alphabetical order by municipality and surname. • Visitors can read the names, dates of birth, regiments and places of death engraved on the steles. Visitors are asked to respect the place: • Take your waste home. • Do not damage the signs and installations. • Only travel the route on foot. • Keep dogs on a leash.

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Open-air monument sacred to the Alpine Corps, surrounded by nature, in an area of 15,956 m² where there are 15 paths, each dedicated to the 15 Gold Medals for military valor to the Treviso Alpine troops. The gravestones are located on these paths, divided by war and grouped by the municipalities of birth of all the Alpine soldiers in the province of Treviso, who died during all the wars of 1900 and during catastrophic events (1976 Friuli earthquake....) Each stela is engraved with name, surname, date and municipality of birth, the regiment to which it belongs, the place and date of death and to date there are 2403 stelae. Source Wikipedia https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosco_delle_Penne_Mozze

The mill was built in 1630 and shortly afterwards accommodation for the caretaker family, a stable and a granary were added. It exploited the waters of the Lierza stream, the main tributary of the Soligo, at the foot of a 12-metre waterfall; it was decommissioned in 1953. At the end of the twentieth century, after experiencing years of degradation, the mill was purchased by the municipality of Refrontolo, which carried out a careful restoration and turned it into a milling museum as well as a venue for exhibitions, including in 2009, an important retrospective by the painter Angelo Lorenzon and, in winter, the annual International Nativity Exhibition. Source Wikipedia