(photo by: Enrico Vettorazzo)
Deeply cut into the tough walls of the Main Dolomite Rock and the Grey Limestones, Val di Lamen is dominated by the imposing southern spurs of Vette di Feltre. The stream Colmeda gushes out from karstic springs gathering part of the subterranean waters circulating in the calcareous-dolomitic massif of the Vette. Among the morphological features characterizing this valley, the great fluvial-glacial terrace is worth a mention: today it is covered with charming pastures and wet meadows and scattered with under rock shelters (the so-called “covoli”), originating from collapses and from karstic corrosion, used by man in successive stages from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages. The vegetal landscape is extremely diversified: the bottom of the valley and the first slopes are characterized by vast meadows and pastures, while woodlands mainly dominated by Hop Hornbeam cover the driest and sunniest slopes. There are some interesting stretches mainly covered with Hornbeam, Mountain Maple, and Common Ash (the lower slopes on the right) on cooler soils. At higher altitudes we find beech tree woods, enriched by the presence of Silver Firs. Among the rarest and most important phytogeographical floristic species, the Stemmacantha rhapontica, the Carniolan Lily (Lilium carniolicum) and the Marsh Gladiolus (Gladiolus palustris), in the sunny clearings at the head of the valley; the Common Maidenhair (Adiantum capillus-veneris), the Asplenium selosii, and the Silene veselskyi can be observed in the under rock shelters. As far as wildlife is concerned, it is frequent to sight Ravens on the cliffs at the head of the valley and Roe Deer in the meadows and clearings.
Municipality: Feltre (BL)