Bed and breakfast accommodation in Belluno Monasteries

Beautiful Belluno, set on the River Piave in the Valbelluna, and ringed by superb peaks, is the jump off point for exploring the eastern Dolomites. Visitors come here year round for outdoor pursuits – skiing, snowboarding and skating in winter, hiking, cycling, golf and fishing in summer. It’s also popular touring country, with many tourists simply coming for the scenery, the pretty towns and villages, the gastronomy and shopping. Belluno has a 16th-century cathedral, churches, and a couple of museums – the Museo Interattivo delle Migrazione tells the story of local migration to find work all over the world during the 19th century.

In the 6th century, after the fall of Rome, Belluno was ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe from the north. Many were Christian and they were a sophisticated people, producing fine jewellery. Some of this, a hoard known as the Belluno Treasure, was found outside the city; it’s now in the British Museum in London. Belluno became part of the Venetian mainland territory in 1404; the Baroque church of San Pietro has paintings by the Venetian artists Andrea Schiavone and Sebastiano Ricci.