Canale d'Agordo, known as Forno di Canale until 1964, is one of the villages that make up the Biois Valley, in the Agordino area, about 50 km from Belluno.
The village is widely known as the birthplace of Albino Luciani (Pope John Paul I), as well as of the landscape painter Giuseppe Zais and the poet Valerio Da Pos.
Canale d'Agordo boasts four higher hamlets: Gares, Fregona, Feder, and Carfon, where the rural and architectural heritage has preserved the typical mountain barns (tabià) and the traditions of haymaking and land care.
In Canale d'Agordo, Don Antonio della Lucia founded the first cooperative dairy in Italy in 1872, and it was also here that one of the country’s first breweries was established in 1847 by the Zannini brothers. At the end of the 19th century, the brewery passed to a branch of the Luciani family, which later moved to Pedavena. It still exists today, although mainly as a restaurant and pizzeria.
The historic center of Canale d’Agordo is especially rich in monuments and landmarks. Among the most notable is the ancient Casa delle Regole, built in 1640, and just behind it lies the Giardino della Memoria (Garden of Memory), dedicated to those who fell or went missing in Russia during World War II. Also noteworthy is the Albino Luciani Museum (MusAL), inaugurated on August 26, 2016 and managed by the Papa Luciani Foundation (Onlus), which—together with the Diocese of Vittorio Veneto—also oversees the Birthplace of Pope John Paul I.
Finally, let us also mention the Feder Dairy Museum, which faithfully recreates the old dairy established between the 19th and 20th centuries in the hamlet of the same name, alongside the development of other dairies in Carfon, Fregona, and Gares.
