A German-speaking linguistic island, Sappada (Plodn in the ancient dialect) extends in the upper Piave valley, at the northeastern end of the Belluno area, wedging with its specificity between the Ladin linguistic and cultural realities of Carnia and Comelico. 

The origins of Sappada date back to around the year One Thousand. Legend has it that it was groups of refugees fleeing from Villgrattental, in Tyrol, to escape the oppressions of local lords, in the full feudal age. 

Some early 20th-century scholars also mention a document dated 1078, never found, by which the inhabitants of Sappada would have placed themselves under the protection of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, declaring themselves subjects. 

Recent studies reveal that the occupation of the valley was carried out by settlers from eastern Tyrol for the exploitation of mineral deposits of which the valley was rich: the toponyms Aisenperk (Monte Ferro), Erzpèid’n (mining plateaus), Knòppnloch (miner’s hole) Gruipòch (Mine Creek) tell of this activity. 

The colonization of the valley initially took place with the establishment of 14 masi, residential nuclei that gradually became the current Borgate. To these was added the fifteenth, the most recent, Lerpa. 

The transalpine origin is confirmed by oral tradition, where legend and history intertwine, associated with important testimonies: the language (a dialect very similar to Bavarian-Tyrolean), numerous customs, and not least the spontaneous architecture, characterized by the use of wood as a building material. 

According to some theories, the root of the toponym Sappada would refer to the hoe with which the first inhabitants of Sappada, having secured possession of the valley, would have tilled the land after clearing it. Recently, following new and in-depth research, it has emerged that it may derive from Zepodn, the local name of Cima Sappada, which could have been the first settlement, given its strategic position. The term Plodn (dialectal name of Sappada) could derive from the Latin root plou (to flow), which refers to Plavis (Piave). 

The Piave River, in fact, originates in Sappada and crosses the valley along its entire length longitudinally.