Man has left a number of ancient marks in the Cinque Torri-Averau area since the early traces of seasonal settlements of shepherds and woodcutters and the alterations of the environment that followed.
An unpublished collection of 47th vintage postcards of Cortina and surroundings, from the 20's to the 50's .
The road of Alemagna and the bridge on the Bigontina
German engraving, 1830 ca.
Chapter 14 - 1848 and the reforms of modern times
Ten years of wars and social unrest had worn out all the European countries, but the new arrangement , most notably in the North of Italy, was a signal of peace. The Ampezzo community was no longer a border country because Austria was moving its frontiers and the old customs post at Aquabona was abandoned. The royal highway of the traders, actually a cart-track just over two metres large, with dreadful ups and downs, fords and mud, would thereafter assume strategic importance as rapid connection road with the new provinces. Engineers set to work at once; in 1823 started the works on the stretch from Dobbiaco to Cortina, which were completed in less than two years. The whole section as far as Conegliano was ready in 1831 and was declared postal road of the empire in 1832. Emperor Francis I with his wife Caroline would travel along it on their way back from Venice; the memorial stone placed on the Cavallera pass above Perarolo, was badly chiselled during the First War.
The new thoroughfare, called "the road of Alemagna", nowhere wider than six metres , with constant gradient and almost entirely on a new roadbed, immediately brought new traffic currents . Most important of all, it opened the doors to tourism. The price of timber too increased and this enabled to cope with a series of hostile events. In 1814 a landslide from Antelao buried two villages near Borca killing 238 people; in 1823 another landslip from mount Zucco, near Valle, swept away a long stretch of the royal highway into the Boite river, breaking up the province into two; in 1841, a mudslide from mount Faloria swept away the fraction of Pécol and the bridge on the Alemagna road, stopping just behind the church of the Defence. Harsh climate and incessant rain between 1816 and 1820 hindered cereals from maturing, provoking famine. Only the newly introduced potato crop could save a lot of people from starvation, above all in the mountain villages.
Politically, however, it seemed that the social situation had been restored exactly as it was before the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Yet, it was a mere illusion that the '48 revolts, which broke out in Paris and Vienna and spread all over Europe, soon cancelled. Ampezzo found itself in the storm both for its position next to Cadore – where rebellions became rather tenacious to the great distress of Radetzky who had taken refuge in the four-sided stronghold of Verona waiting for reinforcements – and most notably because it happened to be on the imperial highway of Alemagna where reinforcement troops were to march.
Since March troops from different places arrived in Ampezzo together with the volunteer corps from Pustorthal, which joined the two Ampezzo companies to watch over the ancient border. By the end of April, when Cadore had formally declared it would participate in the anti-Austrian revolt and would block the road for anyone coming from Tyrol, as many as two or three thousand soldiers were already quartered in Ampezzo. In May, there were a few skirmishes with the volunteer corps of Cadore, organized by Pietro Fortunato Calvi, former Austrian officer born at Noale. The commander of the Austrian troops, Hablitschek, occupied the Boite valley as far as the dam where he stopped. Behind that rocky spur - already used during the Chambray war - the Cadorini had created a fortified place from where they could control the road with two (possibly three) cannons. Combats went on unsuccessfully for days on end. Several attempts to get round the mountain did not bring better results. Over a whole month, with a great number of losses, the volunteers of Cadore succeeded in blocking the Alemagna road also to the south towards Longarone. To the east, towards Carnia, thanks to the help by the people of Forni, their actions blocked both the road to Tolmezzo and the cart-road to Casera Razzo. To the north, Misurina and Montecroce Comelico passes were closed because of the heavy snowfalls. The mountain redoubt that had been so well organized by Calvi resisted till the beginning of June when all means were exhausted and Cadore had to lay down the armsand free the roads. During those two months, the Ampezzo bowl had been the supply lines for the Austrian army. With the disasters of 1809 in mind, the volunteers had remained to defend the village without trespassing the borderline, therefore there had been no victims. Loyalty to the emperor, maintained in spite of the opposing requests by some groups of young people, was rewarded by the government with medals - gold for the chiefs and silver to all the volunteers – and with the gift of a precious silken flag with the embroidery of the Virgin. While in Vienna Strauss was composing on his violin the march in honour of the field-marshal who had made peace in Lombardo Veneto, the wonderful season of the reforms was beginning throughout the monarchy, under which the Magnifica Comunità would receive much benefit.
We will mention a few. Censorship was abolished and freedom of press granted (18th March, 1848); the criminal code was reformed with the abolition of torture (7th July); the reform of the popular school was started (11th September); special tributes imposed on the Jews were abolished (22nd November); serfdoms (19th September) and fiefs were abolished. Furthermore, the reform of the judiciary system (29th November), of the criminal code ( 17th January, 1850) the political reorganization of Tyrol; the institution of the Chambers of Commerce (26th march); a first amnesty for military offences committed during 1848 (6th November).
The first interventions in favour of tourism occur in 1851 with the introduction of the guest-book in hotels (15th August), the first railway law (16th November); the first forest law (3rd December) and the first systematic law on hunting and fishing.
Of significance for Ampezzo are three royal patents to regulate the lands of the monarchy, just freed from oppressive medieval taxes. According to the first law of the 4th March, 1850, all the lands were subject to taxation except for the "areas which do not yield direct profit like barren mountains, cliffs, public roads, rivers, canals, etc." In consequence, these lands were attributed to the land register of the crown. In Cortina, Tofane, Cristallo, Sorapis, Croda da Lago, and other barren and unproductive rocks became crown property.
