Podestagno Castle, probably built around the year 1000, was
occupied by the captains of the Patriarch of Aquileia until 1420, by
the captains of the Republic of Venice until 1511, and then by the
lieutenant of the Emperor of Austria until his fall (at the end of
1700).
For the inhabitants of the Ampezzo valley, it has always
represented the political power, and it has been for centuries a
strategic bulwark over the lock of the Boite in the North of Cortina
and of the compulsory passage of the rio Felizon ravine. Its ruins have
been worked over many times, and the remains of the Castle consist
merely of some ruins of the ancient foundations. Since 1200, when the
road became the shortest way of communication between Germany and
Venice, and it began to be used not only by pilgrims, but also for the
transport of goods between the Adriatic port and Germany, the trade
became intense; and the situation didn't change until the beginning of
1700, when the opening of the free port of Trieste deviated the trade
of goods and led to progressively abandon the road under the Castle,
which fall into disuse. As a consequence, the Community of Ampezzo
built an alternative and more comfortable road leaving from Ru dei
Cavai, where in 1759 a stone quarry was opened for the building of the
Parish Church: the road went uphill on the slope and it got to the
meadow behind the Castle (1762).