TABLE 9

“VACAMORA” STATION TOLLBOX

The rediscovery
Montagne e Solidarietà APS has returned the Antica Strada del Costo to local memory and to posterity. The intervention was born in the Escursioni Storico Umanitarie group, from the intuition of the mountaineer Tarcisio Bellò, from research on site and in the archives with Giorgio Spiller, Omero Capraro and Valter Fabris. The volunteers identified and brought to light the ancient road also with the help of African refugees. An artifact with an ancient flavor and knowledge of 16 kilometers re-emerged from long oblivion, telling the story of an entire territory.
The association, ensuring its maintenance, promoted the regional registration as Sentiero CAI 666, together with CAI Vicenza. The recovery took six years (5240 hours of work between 2018 and 2024) and 13,540 euros from various sponsors.
The Antica Strada del Costo received the GoSlow 2020 National Award and the mention “Recovery model of an ancient road” at the General States of Outdoor Tourism 2024. A grandiose human work that in terms of the volume of stones moved is comparable to the Verona Arena. We should all enhance it and maintain it over time.

From Cesuna to Asiago
The Antica Strada del Costo comes from Cesuna to the Hurst area on the edge of Magnaboschi and Lemerle to reach the railway toll booth where it deviates towards the Bassa and the Pozza dei Janoth, which became a landfill and was recovered in 2020 by the volunteers of Montagne e Solidarietà APS. Among the border pastures of Marcabisa, at Croce di Roncalto the road proceeds towards the relative district or to the left towards Vaister and contrà Coda (Codam Brusà a. 1204). The ancient road rejoins the asphalt road that leads to contrà Mörar and finally to the center of Asiago, formerly Nemus Asillagi (a. 1250).
The route ends at the Piazzale dello Stadio del Ghiaccio where you can take the bus to return to Cesuna, Canove, Tresché Conca, Campiello and Mosson di Cogollo.

Historical attestations
1832 in the Austrian land registry, above Campiello, there is the wording “Road called Costo that goes to Asiago”; then of municipal road “called Zovo” or “from Roncalto to Cesuna”.
1798-1805 Anton von Zach in the Kriegskarte defined it: <<A pedestrian road 5 steps wide… from Asiago crosses Cesuna, turns into an equestrian road, goes to Campiello… Cogollo and Valle dell’Astico. Almost unusable if it rains continuously… because near the Contrada della Coda it is very soft… due to the water that comes down from the mountains.>>
1809-1816 the Napoleonic Avviso maps indicate “Strada del Costo” and “Capitello del Costo”.
1608-1620 the maps Giandomenico dell’Acqua, Filippo Pigafetta, Giovanni and Domenico Molino show the ancient road which, on the G. Molino map and another contemporary one, has a complete development.
1598 in the “Relation of the Vicenza Alps” Count Francesco Caldogno, border inspector for the Serenissima, said that <<…he received a letter from the Rectors of Vicenza… while I was descending into the Canaglia valley.>> (Bertoliana Library, ms 595 pp 203-205).
1524 Contarina ruling <<…the Canaglia road, locally called Campielo…>>
1204 Rotzo border act, a sixteenth-century forgery that is nevertheless important, in which the ancient Val di Maso road would act as the border between Cogollo and Rotzo, now Roana.