Text and photos by Cesare Zucca
Amazing venues, extraordinary castles, vibrant nature and breathtaking views…
Welcome on the Euganean Hills where beauty, history, art and great local food are waiting for you…Ready to tour?
Our exceptional guide will be Francesco Petrarca, most celebrated Italian  “Sommo Poeta” who loved this land and lived in the suggestive “borgo” Arquà.
Petrarca arrived in Padua, guest of the Carraresi lordship who cared very much about the presence of this famous poet ,disputed by the powerful families of the time.
As always, the city is too small for him, he is looking for an environment where he can find space for quiet, but also for contact with nature. What better choice than the Euganean Hills and the village of Arquà, where he lived the last years of his life with his family. He fall in love with this land, considered the green and literary heart of the Veneto, where physical places and places of the soul coincide to this once marshy territory that the poet dedicates some words in one of his letters, remembered in one of the literary plaques of the route of the via poetica of the Petrarca Park “Since in no other way can you so adorn the appearance of a beautiful region and thus restore the Euganean Hills besieged by these marshes, widely known and noble for the branches of Minerva and the very fruitful branch of an illustrious Bacchus, to their true appearance of excellent land, and indeed restore fertile fields to Ceres, which is excluded from it , who are now oppressed by a foul and excessive mood”Thanks to him that many writers and poets were attracted to this territory which then impressed them so much that it became the setting for many of their works, from Byron to Andrea Zanzotto, Mary and Percy Shelley, d’Annunzio and many others  who were inspired by the enchantment of these rolling hills.

So, let’s start your journey from Arquà Petrarca, which preserves its fourteenth-century medieval appearance, the tomb, the Oratory where he retreated to pray and his house, now a museum.

At the ” That house in Arquà” you will discover the garden where he cultivated vegetables and aromatic herbs that we find in the garden and which will be used to create a themed menu, such as bay leaves, dill, basil, chives, fennel, lavender, lovage, marjoram, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley , rosemary, savory, celery, thyme, mallow.

Pay a visit to the Evo del Borgo oil mill, which among the many oils could not miss the laurel oil, a plant loved by the poet, a symbol of fame and celebrity, then the Loreggian Winery that aims to enhance the cultural context also in wine, given that the main wine labels feature phrases from the poet.

In the past, many arrived near the village of Arquà Petrarca by boat, using a dense network of navigable canals, including the Battaglia Canal, an important artificial water road built between the 11th and 12th centuries. You can experiment the amazing the thrill of navigating on a real “gondola”, just like I did, beginning my emotional  gondola cruise after paying a visit to the Museo Navigazione Fluviale, in Battagia Terme, This journey is enriched by an artifact from 1923, a navigation basin which is among the largest in Europe and which allows a drop of water of 7 meters . You will pass through the river village for an interesting perspective that could only be from the water, for this village which owes its fame to it. Water which was important for the activity of the Baths, whose history we will tell and then for the commercial activity of the boatmen, who managed tons of goods transported on the typical “burci” which are still on display in the widespread museum

The Praglia Abbey
A national monument, still inhabited by monks today, owes its existence to great writer Antonio Fogazzaro who collaborated in the reopening of the monastery after its closure in 1868, which only occurred in 1903, Don’t miss the monumental library  featuring a collection of books donated by the writer familyMuseum of the Euganean Hills, Galzignano Terme:
Symbol of the love of the inhabitants of the neibourgh villages. It is in fact the result of a series of donations which over the years have been enhanced by some projects concerning social inclusion, the removal of architectural barriers, the telling of the history of the territory and which is constantly work in progress, thanks also to the study and research of many young scholarship holders and trainees from the nearby University of Padua.Valbona Castle
Thanks to his owner this manor reopened it after years of neglect. Today it presents itself as an original, perfect small venue with multiple possibilities for visits and food and wine experiences https://www.castellodivalbona.eu/_it/ For a light dinner.stop at the internal restaurant https://www.tavernatreleoni.it/

Where to eat 
Antica Trattoria Ballotta
Legendary restaurant serving traditional local food, including the one and only “torresano”,  an antique dish once reserved for the tables of the nobles who raised it in the dovecotes placed on the towers. The Torresano made on the spit was traditionally consumed during summe,  when the young and tender wild pigeons had reached adult size weighing around 500-600 grams. A delicacy!!!Where to sleep
Villa del Poeta cosy hotel with the restaurant “The Canzoniere”
Borgo Buzzaccarini

THANKS
Arcadia Arte, which is part of a temporary association of companies, made up of 20 economic operators who supported a destination project TERME E COLLI EUGANEI: THE LAND OF HEALTH AND EMOTION, financed with the POC of the Region Veneto –
OGD Terme and Colli Euganei area, welcomes tourists with an integrated and coordinated slow-type experiential proposal, capable of embracing the different souls of the destination and enhance them both at a national and international level on themes such as Art & Culture.
And finally…
Claudia Baldin, my brilliant guide for this unforgettable adventure.