Veneto · Belluno
Alleghe
A lakeside village at 979 meters, formed in 1771 when ten million cubic meters of rock crashed into the Cordevole.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 45 min from Bolzano
- Population
- 1,088
- J5°
- F7°
- M8°
- A11°
- M16°
- J21°
- J23°
- A23°
- S18°
- O15°
- N10°
- D5°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Alleghe sits at 979 meters in the Agordino, the deep Cordevole valley that cuts into the Dolomites south of Cortina. The valley funnels the river past steep slopes prone to fire and rockfall, which is why the parish church on the lakefront has been rebuilt more than once.
The lake itself is the town's defining feature and its stranger fact: this is a body of water that did not exist before 11 January 1771, when part of Monte Piz let go and dammed the Cordevole, burying the villages of Riete, Fusine and Marin. Alleghe as it stands today occupies ground that the slide created. Four kilometers up the valley toward the Marmolada lies Caprile, which had been the commercial center of the Agordino before the slide and lost that standing once the lake formed and the newer settlement grew around it. The ski domain that carries the mountain's name opened to the public in the 1980s, linking Alleghe over the Forcella Staulanza to Zoldo and Selva di Cadore, and hockey has been the town's other pursuit, played for decades on the lake ice itself before the sport moved indoors.
What holds the place together is that geology, not settlement history, decided where the town would sit and what it would be called on to survive.
How to get there
From Treviso (TSF), about 2 h 6 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 3 h 13 min away.
By car from the center of Bolzano 1 h 45 min or Trento 2 h 5 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Lago di Alleghe
The water sits over what used to be dry valley floor, fed by the Cordevole and still partly filled in by debris, shorter today than its original four-kilometer extent.
Monte Civetta
The wall rises directly above the water, with the Tissi, Coldai and Vazzoler refuges strung along the Alta Via 1 trail beneath it.
Ski Civetta
80 km of slopes linking Alleghe, Zoldo and Selva di Cadore via lifts over the Forcella Staulanza; part of the Dolomiti Superski circuit.
Caprile
Frazione 4 km up the valley toward the Marmolada, the historic commercial seat of the Agordino with stone houses and a covered marketplace.
Chiesa di San Biagio
Parish church on the lakefront, rebuilt in the seventeenth century after fires and rockfalls common in this valley.
Living here
Could you live here?
Alleghe is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,088. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sedico, is 40 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Belluno, a city of 35,543, is 58 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 1,088, down 11.8% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Belluno, 58 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Agordo, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,750 to €2,200 per m² to buy, €5.40 to €6.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Venice Marco Polo airport (VCE), 2 h 2 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Venice, 2 h 15 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Ukraine and Egypt, against 9% across Italy. There are 353 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 73% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Belluno province ranks 33rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Agordo, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Bolzano, 52 km away. The nearest IB school is Realgymnasium Bozen, 52 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.95% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Veneto spends about €2,310 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €490 a year for water, on the Veneto average. In Belluno, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.44, a meal in a pizzeria €11.82 and a man's haircut €23.08.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. 15% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 15% in a high or medium one. 9% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
THE 1771 SLIDE
Ten million cubic meters of Monte Piz crashed into the Cordevole, buried three villages, killed forty-nine and formed the lake.
CIVETTA
3,220-meter wall on the doorstep, one of the most photographed faces of the Dolomites and a major Alta Via 1 anchor.
ICE HOCKEY
HC Alleghe played decades in Italy's top division on outdoor lake ice before the indoor PalaCivetta rink replaced it.
Common questions
- What is Alleghe known for?
- Alleghe is a lakeside village at 979 meters, formed in 1771 when ten million cubic meters of rock crashed into the Cordevole.
- Where is Alleghe?
- Alleghe is a comune in the province of Belluno, in Veneto.
- What is the nearest airport to Alleghe?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Venice Marco Polo (VCE), about 2 h 2 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bolzano to Alleghe?
- About 1 h 45 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Alleghe?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 23 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 25 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Alleghe?
- Rocca Pietore, San Vito di Cadore and Falcade.
- How many people live in Alleghe?
- 1,088 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Alleghe a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Alleghe is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sedico, is 40 min away. The nearest city, Belluno, is 58 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Agordo, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 979 m
- Population: 1,088
- Surface area: 29.72 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Alleghe
What all six share with Alleghe: high in the mountains · under 3,000 people
The letter
Read a sample letter
Chioggia | Everyone is wrong about this town
It’s not an alternative to Venice
Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.