Casa del Parco Villa Welsperg

Villa Welsperg, in Val Canali, was built in 1853 by the little lake of the same name. Once the home of the Counts Welsperg, it has been modernised with restructuring and furnishing to become the “Casa del Parco” (Park Head Office).

The Visitor Centre set up inside the Villa creates an immersive experience which allows guests to grasp the essential defining features of each geographical area of the Park.

The first room is dedicated to the Park as a whole and to the meaning and value of biodiversity. The other five rooms each depict one of the major areas of the Park: beginning with Val Canali, before moving up onto the Pale Plateau and then down into the Paneveggio Forest, climbing once again to the ridge of the Lagorai and finally descending into Vanoi. Walking through these rooms, following this path, is like strolling through the Park in miniature, in all its forms and complexities.

The building also contains a Library dedicated to the writer Dino Buzzati, who loved the mountains of Val Canali and was a frequent visitor.

Outside the Villa, in front of the great haybarn, are the Orto officinale, a garden where medicinal plants are grown; and the Campo Custode, where traditional local produce is cultivated. This is also the starting point for the Le Muse Fedaie themed trail, which reflects on the biodiversity of this splendid valley in the Dolomites.