Scents and colors of summer in the Euganean Hills

I Winemakers of the Consorzio Vini Colli Euganei and of the Strada del Vino have opened their cellars and organize tastings (by reservation), well aware that even during the lockdown period Nature has taken its course and, as every year, will give wonderful fruits. The hoteliers, B&B managers of the Colli Euganei and of the Consorzio Thermae Abano-Montegrotto are ready for protected hospitality thanks to sanitizations, distancing, and personal protective equipment. From June 1st, thermal pools, saunas, massage centers, and caves are open, along with mud therapies and inhalation treatments, by ordinance of the Veneto Region. All this in compliance with security protocols and with limited entries. The area prides itself that precisely the Centro Studi Termali Pietro d’Abano has been an important reference point for drafting the safety protocols.

The innkeepers and chefs of the many restaurants, trattorias and agritourisms of the Colli Euganei are open, ready to welcome guests thanks to the large indoor and outdoor spaces of their establishments, to dine together enjoying extraordinary views, in full respect of health protection.

Regional Park of the Colli Euganei

The scents of the fields, the colors of summer, the flavors of traditional recipes, the relaxation of thermal waters, the charm of art await you across 100 Colli Euganei, near Padua. A capital of beauty and biodiversity to preserve: the Regional Park of the Colli Euganei protects over 18,000 hectares of a unique ecosystem where farmers, winemakers, facilities and tourism operators coexist united in the protection of the natural, touristic and food and wine heritage. In a summer different from what we would have expected just a few months ago, on the Colli Euganei, therefore, everything is reopening these days, in total safety.

A weekend or a longer stay on the “Hills of Venice,” a holiday place of nobles and Doges of the Serenissima, guarantees all the elements of “feeling on vacation”: Beauty, Nature, Art, Food and Wine, Sports, Thermal Baths.

COLLI EUGANEI: BEAUTY

In the geometry of vineyard rows on rolling slopes, in the succession of villages, medieval castles, Renaissance villas, monasteries and hermitages still inhabited by Benedictines and Camaldolese; many elements of serene beauty that shine in the vivid light of summer and offer the energy that this land releases.

COLLI EUGANEI: NATURE

They rise suddenly from the horizon of the Po Valley, emerged from the waters forty million years ago due to volcanic movements. They are the “flowering islands” that Shelley wrote about, where Mediterranean and alpine flora coexist: prickly pears, olive trees, almond trees, and orchids alongside chestnuts, oaks, rowans, junipers.

EUGANEAN HILLS: ART

From the civilization of the Paleoveneti (Bronze Age between the 10th and 5th century B.C.) to today, the Hills show important testimonies of Italian history and culture. Here are some of the art jewels set among the Hills, visitable safely (currently preferably by reservation):

• the monumental Castle of Catajo of the Obizzi family with 16th-century frescoes;
• Monselice with its 11th-century Castle and the Jubilee Sanctuary of the Settand Churches by Vincenzo Scamozzi;
• the 17th-century garden of Villa Barbarigo at Valsanzibio which is said to have inspired parts of Versailles;
• the Benedictine abbey of Praglia which puts to use the rule “ora et labora”;
• the Renaissance Villa dei Vescovi in Luvigliano, inspired by a Roman domus, owned by FAI;
• the House of Francesco Petrarca in Arquà, a medieval stone village belonging to “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”;
• Este with its city walls and the National Atestino Museum.

EUGANEAN HILLS: FOOD & WINE

Viticulture, introduced here by the Paleoveneti, today achieves excellent results in the numerous cellars of the Euganean Hills, almost artisan workshops. These are family-run businesses of modest size, capable of personally interpreting this volcanic land with its particular altitudes and microclimates, which give the wine unique organoleptic characteristics. Grapes such as the Moscato Fior d’Arancio, Serprino, and the classic Merlot and Cabernet, represent the viticultural soul of the Euganean Hills: from fresher expressions to refined and complex ones, they tell the richness, yet to be discovered, of this land. On the table, we find traditional peasant dishes like “Oca in Onto” and the Gallina Padovana (both Slow Food Presidium), the scents of mushrooms in autumn and wild herbs in spring. Everything is enriched by prized vegetables and fruits such as Baone peas, Permunia asparagus, Arquà jujubes, Zovon cherries, as well as fine honey and extra virgin olive oil which has a 700-year tradition here.

EUGANEAN HILLS: SPORTS

Very enjoyable even with social distancing, given the ample space available. Cyclotourism for the whole family, with road or racing bikes on a ain the ccycling route of over 60 km. Mountain biking also with challenging uphill dirt trails and adrenaline-filled descents through the woods. Threekking in the greenery of the Euganean Hills Regional Park, among oak, robinia, chestnut trees and openings with extraordinary panoramas reaching as far as Venice. And then Golf on three courses (9, 18 and 27 holes), horse riding e tennis.

EUGANEAN HILLS: HEALTH

Thanks to the hyperthermal waters that spring in the territories of Abano, Montegrotto and Galzignano and constitute the largest spa area in Europe.Department of Biology of the University of Padua scientifically measured the quantity and quality of the microbiota (the set of active principles) of the microflora in the Euganean thermal muds, demonstrating that it can only develop from this type of volcanic-origin clay, matured in the water that springs in this area. The result proves that exclusively the peculiar biodiversity of the Euganean Territory gives rise to inimitable muds, with such a high curative power.