"Julian Alps" Military History Museum

Cave del Predil is a small hamlet of Tarvisio in the Rio del Lago valley, the narrow basin that stretches from Chiusaforte to the border with Austria and Slovenia.

In past centuries it was an important mining centre, perhaps discovered in Roman times, which contributed to the demographic and economic growth of the area. The crisis of mining in the twentieth century and its recent closure, however, forced many people to leave the village and the whole valley.

That mining heritage has now been transformed into a very interesting museum that keeps alive the memory of this small settlement in the Julian Alps. Since 1990 the former elementary school has also housed a second permanent exhibition devoted to the memory of war: the Julian Alps Military History Museum, a six-room complex that retraces the history of this territory from the barbarian invasions to the Second World War.

In the room dedicated to the First World War, called “Vittorio Veneto”, particular attention is given to the conflict between the Central Powers and the Entente countries in the Carnia sector, which also included the Julian Alps. Equally interesting is the “Duke of Aosta” room, which preserves historical testimony relating to the period between the annexation of the Tarvisio area to Italy in 1919 and the Second World War.