Prehistory
The area of the municipality of Farra d'Alpago had been inhabited since the end of the Upper Palaeolithic (about 10,000 years ago), as evidenced by the excavations that began in 1993 in Palughetto (near Campon). Hundreds of flint splinters were recovered, some of which were transformed into the tools that were used to carnify and discard animal carcasses, to work the skin, horn, bone and wood; among the most characteristic we mention the bulini, the scrapers, the scrapers and the back knives. Then there were other extremely specialised types, as they were used for the manufacture of weapons, especially arrows used in fishing activities. The most relevant find is certainly the flint reserve, a subcircular hole that contained 6 blocks of flint. On the western side of the Piano del Cansiglio, near Casera Lissandri, a Mesolithic settlement was found. The finds (lint artefacts) seem to refer to a hunter's camp datable between 9,400 and 8,600 years ago. Other settlements of the same age were discovered a little upstream of the main one, but also a few hundred metres away, towards the Casere Davià or in the direction of the village of the Pich. The excavation of the Casera Lissandri site (from the website www.alplab.it): The human settlement in the territory of Belluno and in particular of the A lpago basin dates back to rather ancient times, in fact sporadic traces left by Neanderthals on the Cansiglio Plateau can be attributed to at least 20,000 years before the Last Glacial Maximum and it cannot be ruled out that they can be pushed even further in time, during the interglacial periods, when the plateau was covered with forests and already offered various food resources. Evidence of the anthropic frequency of this environment during the period of passage between the Last Glacial Maximus and the ancient Holocene (therefore between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago), in relation to the profound climate and landscape changes that occurred during this phase, come mainly from the lake and peat basin of the Palughetto, on the northern edge of the Plateau, at 1040 m above sea level, and from the settlement of the Bus de la Lum, at about 995 m above sea level. The latter is placed near the infamous forra, on one of the heights of the eastern Cansiglio, in a position raised with respect to the surrounding karst depressions and was specially chosen to install the camp, the remains of which are represented exclusively by worked flints, while other archeological elements such as the bone remains of the hunted animals, the instruments manufactured with bones and a stage of deer, or made on limestone materials have not been preserved. The production of flint artefacts is well attested (over 4000 instruments) and represents the first testimony in Cansiglio of the process of colonisation of the pre-alpine territories by the hunter-gatherers datable to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic, or about 12,000 years from the present. Other characteristics are preserved by the Palughetto site, which following a very accurate excavation, turned out to be an extraordinary palaeoenvironmental archive, equipped with a very rich stratigraphy that documents the progressive reforestation of the surrounding environment during the late glacial. It also preserves an archeological layer placed in correspondence with the most recent peat, which is accompanied by the Lithic set found on the moraine in front of the bog, which document the camp of hunter-gataters dating back to the final phase of the Upper Palaeolithic (about 10,000 years ago); the presence of a wetland, like few there are in Cansiglio, had evidently led the groups of Epigravetti hunters to choose it as the ideal area to camp. The most interesting find inside the bog is instead represented by a reserve of unprocessed raw material (lint from the Alpago and the Piave Valley), preserved by the far-sighted Palaeolithic hunters who went to Cansiglio aware of the poverty of flint suitable for the chipping of this territory, and wanted to be confident in transporting quality materials without running into unpleasant surprises right in the moment of need, demonstrating how deep the knowledge of our territories was for the people of that time. Thanks to its peculiar morphological characteristics, the western flank of the Pian Cansiglio favoured the anthropogenic occupation of the a rea during a more recent era, when the climatic events of the Postglaciale allowed the reforestation of the side, the crown of hunting camps and Mesolithic residential camps. In fact, numerous archeological evidences have come to light, distributed along the middle-lower sector of the slope, in positions raised with respect to the local valleys; the high concentration of sites, about thirty in total, is included along a narrow altimetric band between 1050 and 1080 m, where the best conservation conditions have allowed the detection of materials. Only some of these Mesolithic settlements, roughly attributable to a period between 10,000 and 8,000 years from the present, have been investigated in depth through excavation activities and have returned numerous lint findings, from whose analysis it has been possible to develop a cultural framework and formulate some hypotheses on the functional meaning of these sites. In this sense, the settlement of Casera Davià can probably be interpreted as a residential camp, where the typological variety of tools and raw materials used refers to the numerous activities practised by the groups of hunter-gatherers of the ancient Mesolithic (Sauveterriano) who had settled here. The nearby open-air site of Casera Lissandri has a much more substantial archeological documentation, despite the fact that it is always only flint artefacts: the excavation highlighted a high-density circular area of lithic artefacts surrounded by a relatively poorer band, which could indicate the location of a hut. The typological and technological characteristics of the finds refer to the middle phase of the ancient Mesolithic and suggest the practice in the camp of various productive activities such as the processing of leathers, the engraving and drilling of hard materials, the cutting and slaughter of animals in addition to the manufacture of armour. Finally, the site of Casera Lissandri XVII, probably contemporary to Lissandri I, is characterised by the presence of a fair number of flint artefacts functionally linked to hunting activity, which seems to be indicative of a small short-lived hunting bivouac, inhabited by one or more hunters dedicated to the preparing of their weapons.
Pre-Roman Era
From the end of the Bronze Age, with migratory flows in successive waves starting from the end of the 11th century B.C., there is the political and cultural influence of the Paleo-Venetian peoples (or Venetians Illiri, ethnic group of Anatolian-Balcan origin), who leave traces in the Alpago, although not directly in the municipality of Farra, such as the "torques" (rigid bronze or amber bracelets and necklaces) with globets, and plaques of decorated belts. These findings also denote an influence on the part of the Celtic populations present in the north and east of the Alps.
Roman Era
The Alpago at the beginning of Imperial Rome (44 BC), under Caesar Octavian Augustus, was included in the X Region of Italy that was called "Venice and Istria" to which Roman citizenship was conferred in the year 88 BC. On the western shore of Lake S. Croce, called from the Latins Lapacinus or Lapacinensis (or Lacus Piso or Lacus Pasinus), the name from which the Alpago toponym (Lapacum) originates passed through a Roman street that connected the Claudia Augusta Altinate near Ponte nelle Alpes in Treviso and Friuli, today's Alemagna. This street was known as Via Julia and from the 15th century also as Via Regia. Emperor Claudius (41-54 A.D.), to guarantee free transit through these evil places infested by barbarian rebels and to give them security, had two castles built in the Alpago Conca. At that time, another route was also in use, which from Caneva-Polcenigo (and perhaps from Aquileia), crossing the Cansiglio Plateau and the Alpago, passed at the foot of the Castle of S. Giorgio di Socchèr and climbed the Piave on the left bank to Castellavazzo. In the "Statuti of the Magnificent City of Belluno" it is remembered as "Per viam de Campsilio de Alpago". The two stone bridges of excellent workmanship that are located just above the hamlet of Buscole are testimony to this. Many Roman toponyms remain in the Alpago: "Cansiglio" would derive from "Campus Silius" because according to legend General Silla planted a camp in the plateau. Most likely the real etymology is in the name "Concilium", which means "consortial unit dependent on the community of several countries". The Cansiglio was left grazing to the neighbouring municipalities. The name of the town of Foràn also has Roman origins: from the Latin "foramen", that is to say forra, opening of cave, amphral. Right in Foràn, as well as in Piazzetta Comin, gold coins from the Roman era were found. In some excavations carried out in the 1960s for the creation of the sewage network in the village of Castel De Loto, sections of the aqueduct called Roman were discovered, while in the early years of the post-year period some arches and columns made of red limestone were found in the vicinity of the parish church. The most used material at this time, however, is the stone from the Cansiglio quarries: a coarse-grained limestone, of excellent quality and well workable. Almost all the inscribed Roman tombstones found (including the precious tombstone of Carminio Pudunde) in the Bellunese (and part of those of Feltrino) are made of Cansiglio stone. The route followed for transport was the one described above that passed through the Roman bridges; arrived at Lake S. Croce was passed to transport by water passing through the Rai stream and the Piave river. Around the fourth century, the evangelisation of our areas was completed and would have begun, according to tradition at the end of the first century by S. Prosdocimus, bishop of Padua and disciple of the apostle Peter. It is legitimate to assume that due to its isolated situation and the tenacity of its inhabitants, the Alpago passed to Christianity much later than the cities common to all who inhabited the pagus, of the Roman villages far from the major centres.
The Barbarian invasions
The first barbarians to appear in the valley, except for the inhabitants of Norico who carried out incursions at the time of Octavian Augustus, were the Goths of Theodoric, who occupied the two castles previously seen and built another one in the Bongai area, in the middle valley of the Tesa.
The Middle Ages (from the website www.alplab.it):
In the High Middle Ages, the presence, although ascertained, of Ostrogoths did not leave significant evidence; however, it is certain that in the Alpago, as in the area of forced passage, castles were built, or perhaps restored, for the need to block all the passages that could let the enemies descend towards the plain. The castles of the Alpago are therefore attributable to the dominations of the Goths and Alemanni. The Lombards are a people of Scandinavian origin, who descended in Italy in 568 A.D. It is to them that Farra d'Alpago, like the other Farra or Fara of Italy, owes its name. The Faralongobarda is a settlement of families and reserves not too exposed to the dangers of the main roads. In Alpago the memory of the Lombards is in the two farms or decanies that divided the region (perhaps the same division adopted by the Venetian republic) into Alpago di Sopra and Alpago di Sotto (below or above the Tesa), dependent on the Sculdascia of Bellunoe in the two nuclei of Farra and Pieve. Farra was part of the decany of Pieve. The economic exploitation of the region relied on the military Defence of the locks of Cansiglio and Fadalto, entrusted to them, which they put in Friuli. The bad government of the Goths in the last years of their reign was succeeded by the wise orders of the Lombards. The Lombards are a people of Scandinavian origin, who descended in Italy in 568 A.D. It is to them that Farra d'Alpago, like the other Farra or Fara of Italy, owes its name. The Lombard Fara is a settlement of families and reserves not too exposed to the dangers of the great roads, or "settlement of a Lombard travelling community", as the connection with the Germanic term "faran" (to go) is clear. The first settlements must have been in the most elevated area of Castel De Loto, as at the foot of the Col dei Piai there were frequent floods caused by the two streams Tesa and Runàl. Although there are no leftovers or traditions of a Lombard manor in Farra, its existence can be deduced from the name of Castel De Loto. The political and military reasons that led the Lombards to establish their own union of families at the Cansiglio collided with the economic interests represented by the exploitation of the very extensive woods, which went from the north-eastern part of the Alpago to the edge of the plateau overlooking the Venetian plain and which extended behind the village. The Germans found in this corner of Belluno the environment that reminded them of the places of origin. The place was the most suitable for the use of the immense forest at that time much larger. For the nearby waters of the lake, the natural transport route, the traffic of timber was greatly facilitated. By bringing together with little expense and effort the trunks of the trees coming from the Cansiglio, and composing them in rafts, they guided them through the lake and along the Rai canal, then its large emissary, to the Piave and then to the sea. In Alpago the memory of the Lombards is in the two farms or decanies that divided the region (perhaps the same division adopted by the Venetian republic) into Alpago di Sopra and Alpago di Sotto (below or above the Tesa), dependent on the Sculdascia of Bellunoe in the two nuclei of Farra and Pieve. The economic exploitation of the region was entrusted to the military Defence of the locks of Cansiglio and Fadalto, entrusted to them, which they put in Friuli. The two locks, called Abiciones, are remembered, with the decanies and the Cansiglio, a century and a half after the cessation of the Lombard rule in Italy in the diploma of Berengar I emperor and king who gave them, in 923, together with the Alpago and the Cansiglio, to Aimone Bishop of Belluno. The toponym Spert also derives from the Lombard "Asperht" (and also Broz, in the municipality of Tambre). In Alpago the memory of the Lombards is found in the two masseries or decanies that divided the region (perhaps the same division adopted by the Venetian republic) into Alpago di Sopra and Alpago di Sotto (below or above the Tesa), dependent on the Sculdascia of Belluno and headed in the two nuclei of Farra and Pieve. The economic exploitation of the region was entrusted to the military Defence of the locks of Cansiglio and Fadalto, entrusted to them, which they put in Friuli. The two locks, called by Abiciones, are remembered, with the decanies and the Cansiglio, a century and a half after the cessation of the Lombard rule in Italy in the diploma of Berengar I emperor and king who gave them, in 923, together with the Alpago and the Cansiglio, to Aimone Bishop of Belluno. In this document it is named for the first time as "laca Lapacinense" the lake of S. Cross. Even the word "Svaldo" or "Svaldi", indicating certain municipal assets until the seventeenth century and has remained until today in some surnames, is of Lombard origin: it derives from the superposition of the Germanic Wald and the Latin Silva, both meaning Bosco. Used simultaneously in the dialect of the people in the early days of the Lombard invasion, they generated a hybrid term. The Svaldi of Farra belonged to the Cansiglio and a small area southeast of the Alpago. Even the name Salatis, given to the valley between the Guslon and Messer mountains, would give rise to the belief that it was derived from scattered Lombard residences or inhabited by Roman people in the service of the Lombard fara, of which the remains remain in the houses Caotes, Tona, Malon and Duppiai. "Sala", in fact, at the lonngobards, is the house, the country farm.
Modern Evo
Starting from the fifteenth century the Republic of S. Marco guaranteed Farra three centuries of tranquillity due to the Venetian interest in the use of Cansiglio timber, even if he arrogated himself the exploitation of the "Bosco Da Reme di S. Marco", subtracting the rights from the Alpagote communities, very often employed the labour of the sin. The guild of the "remeri" should never leave the timber missing at the Arsenale and provide for the cuts and pipelines. The Farrese also collaborated: in 1768 the 13th company of arborists was formed, composed of twelve chief conductors from Farra and other subordinates. In 1625 the parish of Farra was detached from that of Pieve, remaining also in this period dependent on the noble municipality of Belluno. The tithes had to be paid to the Bishop of Belluno, under penalty of excommunication, as happened to Giovanni Peterle on September 9, 1580. Between 1600 and 1700 the municipality knew an economic fortune.
