June 27, 2011 is an important date for the citizens of the municipalities of Caneva and Polcenigo in the Province of Pordenone. On the occasion of the 35th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, meeting in Paris, Palù di Livenza was inscribed on the UNESCO list of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps.

This is a transnational serial site which extends over the territories of six countries (Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia) and includes a selection of 111 dwelling villages, believed to be the most interesting of the 1,000 known sites. The site consists of the remains of prehistoric settlements located on the shores of lakes or rivers or bogs, that have allowed an excellent preservation of organic materials. For Italy, it is the 47th site in the UNESCO list, while for the Friuli Venezia Giulia is the 4th, after Aquileia, Cividale del Friuli and the Dolomites.

Italy, it is the 47th site in the UNESCO list, while for the Friuli Venezia Giulia is the 4th, after Aquileia, Cividale del Friuli and the Dolomites.
The admission in the list of UNESCO aims to protect archaeological sites: it requires Member States to the development of programs for management, monitoring and active intervention for the protection of cultural property registered. Experience has shown that, without adequate protective measures, many prehistoric pile-dwelling sites are at risk of destruction. The inclusion on the list also provides a mark of excellence that enhances awareness of uniqueness in the world of listed sites, creating a driving force for the development of cultural tourism and an opportunity to learn about places, sometimes not very well known to the local people themselves.

The prehistoric pile dwellings are an “invisible cultural heritage”: their potential emerges only from scientific excavations and detailed analysis of the numerous remains found, unlike all the other monuments that form the UNESCO World Heritage. The inscription means a great support for the efforts made ​​by the various Countries of the Alps to preserve this heritage.

The dwelling villages are very important for understanding the development of the most ancient European civilization, constituting the testimony not only of a particular pattern of use of the land and its resources, but above all of cultural forms well adapted to natural environments such as wetlands are the Alpine region.

The Palù di Livenza, as well as a dwelling site of great value from the archaeological point of view, it is an area of great natural interest.

The Palù di Livenza, also called Palù della Santissima, takes its name from the marshy valley of the source of Livenza, on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Piancavallo. The marshes of the area, between the springs of the river and water meadows in the valley are home to many species of plants and animals.

The marsh of the sources of Livenza was formed in a structural natural depression , bounded to the east by the Col Longone , to the west by the slopes of Cansiglio and crossed to the north by gravels transported by Gorgazzo river. At the base of the mountain range Cansiglio / Cavallo, from which they are derived, are aligned on a range of 5 km he three perennial springs of Livenza river: Gorgazzo (north-west), Santissima (in the village of Polcenigo) and Molinetto (in the village of Caneva ).
We have a pool of water with fluctuating heights since prehistoric times, that in the last two centuries was subjected to various reclamation and plumbing works (excavation of ditches, canals, draining, the construction of a canal that runs through Col Longone for the supply of a power plant) that partially altered the natural moist environment. Despite the introduction of these changes, we still have a stratified deposit of extraordinary importance for prehistoric archeology and for the study of environmental change over the past 15,000 years.

The area known today as Palù di Livenza was populated since the ancient Paleolithic (ca 4900 BC.). Excavations have revealed three different types of structures that testify to a pile-dwelling settlement of the place until the late Neolithic period. The materials found are many, stone and pottery tools and objects.

The site of Palù di Livenza is one of the most ancient dwelling sites in northern Italy and one of the few sites where is particularly promising a thorough study of the modes of adaptation to the environment of prehistoric man.
The sediments saturated with water, have in fact allowed the preservation of perishable items (plant, pollen, wood) that make up a rich archive of data about the environments and the material culture of prehistoric man.
Thanks to the exceptional dating of the finds and the importance that the archaeological area covers in Italy , Palù has been included in the lists of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Paleolithic site, in fact, along with other similar areas concentrated in the Alps (from France to Slovenia, also including Germany, Switzerland, Austria and several Italian cities), is part of the ” Prehistoric Pile Dwellings of the Alps Region”. The area is known for its archaeological peculiarities since 1800.

The archaeological remains found in the dwelling site are now preserved in the Archaelogical Museum of Friuli Occidentale.

If you want to visit the Palù Livenza we can help you better organize your visit.
We’ll give you all the necessary information on things to see, the most suitable routes, places to eat and sleep and also on places of historical and natural interest, that you can find nearby in the towns of Caneva and Polcenigo.

You can request more information calling the following numbers: + 39 0434 797411

 

Or write and send your request by e-mail: info@paludilivenza.it