The Museum Algudnei

On the top two floors of Palazzo Zandonella in Dosoledo, historically relevant building as testimony of a rich stately building of XVII Century, we can find the Museo Algudnei: synthesis of a cultural project with which Gruppo di Ricerche and Regola intend to disclose the results of the researches about Ladina culture of Comelico, with the aim to transmit knowledge. The museum offers to the visitor a reading about certain aspects of history and local traditions through images and videos. The large space is divided into three thematic sections: Carnevale (Carnival) with mannequins dressed in traditional costumes and vintage photographs; Regole, with maps and historical routes; Rifabbrico , with the reconstruction of events that radically changed the appearance of the villages in Cadore and in Comelico. In 2015 a new section about Great War on the front was opened : it shows the thickness of the front and it was designed by experts and scholars from Comelico, Austria and Pusteria. In 2018 were inaugurated other two sections: Ladino del Comelico and Clonpär ; Ladino is the native language of the valley, Clonpär is term that indicates who practiced the work of tinsmiths in Italy and in other countries in Europe.
The Carnival theme is very heartfelt in Comelico, for this reason the museum decided to attach particular importance on it. Among the main masks of the Dosoledo’s Carnival there are Lachè and Matazin, which are represented by two male figures and are symbols of wealth and fortune.

Both costumes show up themselves stylistically in the same way and they change in the colours. They wear white socks with colourful stripes attached to them, black shoes decorated with flowers, colored silk pants, many layers made up of gussets, muslin and silk. A pair of white gloves, a long top hat, called in dialect baretòn or calottä, garnished with necklaces, pearls, beads, brooches and 100 coloured silk ribbons cascading from the top of the headdress, a candy box which contains good luck confetti and the scepter. The difference between the two masks is the colour of the clothes: the Laché , who opens the show, wears a light coloured dress (such as pink, yellow, light blue); the Matažin , who follows the Lachè parading and dancing in front of the band, wears a suit in darker colours (such as red, blue, green).