Lorenzago di Cadore is known as a holiday resort of Pope John Paul II, but there have been many famous people who have spent their vacations here over time, constructing villas and buildings.
A place of great spirituality, an open-air sanctuary and the Pope’s Museum, where photographs and mementos of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI are on display, have been created in memory of Karol Wojtyla.
As you walk through the streets of Lorenzago, you will notice that the village is divided into the two settlements of Villagrande and Villapiccola entirely rebuilt in stone to a design by architect Segusini, after a fire destroyed the traditional wooden houses in 1855.
Curiosities and tips
- Giosuè Carducci describes Lorenzago with this line in his poem dedicated to Cadore, “Lorenzago opens among the sloping fields that from above overlooks the valley in the middle”.
- The "path of the Popes", which leads up to the Sanctuary, retraces the places where Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI spent their days and moments of prayer
- The system that architect Segusini used for the reconstruction is the "Roman Square". It was innovative for the times and is still used today
