Valgrande (Veneto)
Valgrande is a hamlet ( località ) in the municipality of Comelico Superiore in the Dolomites ( Province of Belluno / Veneto , Italy ). It is a spa center at an altitude of 1,210 m due to a sulfur-containing spring that feeds the Risena stream ( Torrente Risena ).
The valley of the Risena with the thermal baths of Valgrande is surrounded by the rock massifs of the Popera group , i. H. Cima Bagni (2,983 m), Cima Popera (2,964 m) and Monte Popera (= Hochbrunnerschneid, 3,046 m).
Geography and location
The source area of the Torrente Risena lies on the rocky ridge of the Creston Popera , on which the Berti hut stands, in approx. 1,950 m altitude. As a waterfall and torrent, the Risena flows over the steep slopes of the valley head and reaches after approx. 1 km the green forest clearing Selvapiana with the Lunelli hut at 1,568 m.
Here the valley widens, characterized by alpine meadows and spruce forests, and now slopes gently to flow into the Torrente Padola after around 4 km north of Pàdola. This lower section of the valley also belongs to the località Valgrande - also outside the spa center - and is also called Val Grande on the topographic map .
Infrastructure
Valgrande can be reached by car via a spur road that branches off from Strada Statale 52 Carnica south of the Kreuzbergpass and can be driven up to the Lunellihütte.
Alpine trails lead above the Lunellihütte to the Bertihütte and into the rock faces of the Popera group, into the Vallon Popera and to the via ferrata in the Sesto Rotwand .
history
The healing sulfur springs emerging in the forest south above the Risena stream - called Acqua puzza (= stinking water) - could, according to the spa center, have already been known in antiquity; it is certain that they have been used for drinking cures and external applications since the 19th century. The first water analyzes were carried out in 1837 on behalf of the Comelico Superiore municipality by the pharmacist Bartolomeo Zanon from Belluno, followed by further studies by Professor Giovanni Bizio in 1878.
The municipality's first project from 1880, to build a three-story spa house with a concert hall and a spacious park, was not implemented for financial reasons. A more modest property, built in 1894, had to close again a few years later. After 1900 some hotels and guest houses with bathing facilities were built. Some buildings from this era have survived, but they are no longer used for their original purposes.
Valgrande today
Towards the end of the 20th century the plans to build a new spa center in the Val Grande became more concrete. In 2003, today's Terme delle Dolomiti was established , with indoor and outdoor pools, sauna and Turkish bath, which is both a wellness thermal bath and spa facility, in which therapeutic baths against skin diseases, underwater massages against vascular diseases, inhalations against diseases of the upper respiratory tract, various physiotherapies as well Cosmetic treatments are offered.
However, the thermal baths have been closed since 2012 and so has the café since 2013.
Topographic map
Sexten Dolomites, 1: 25,000 Tabacco Editrice, Tavagnacco (UD), 2010
Individual evidence
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 38 ' N , 12 ° 27' E