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The pathway
From Casa Marina (310 m altitude), after a stretch of dirt road, on the right you’ll see a steep slope that passes close to the ancient Olivato Fountain and goes into the chestnut, downy oak, manna ash and hop hornbeam wood. The moist soil close to the fountain gives shelter to the slowworm and the fire salamander.
The trail goes on in the wood where you’ll find rocky outcrops, and it widens as there are some sites of ancient charcoal kilns, like the carbonile dea busa dei onari. The brushwood of this southern side of the Venda Mount is rich in various species of the Mediterranean Scrub, like the sage-leaved rock rose, the burning-bush and the wild asparagus.
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The Pria de Scanavaca, a massive rock whose deep valley offers a shelter for badgers, foxes and beech martens, soars above a stony slope. The trail bends on the left, entering the moist and fresher northern side; you’ll find the fork that on the right goes downhill until the Roccolo, while on the left it goes uphill quickly until the deviation (500 m altitude) for the remains of the Olivetani Monastery (3 km, 2h, max altitude: 580 m).
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If you turn right, the trail goes downhill and, after a quite steep flagging stretch, it turns into the paved street that comes from Castelnuovo. You will cover this upward slope and, after a hairpin bend, you will turn right and enter a dirt road that leads to Casa Brombolina (altitude 440m). The trail crosses a false acacia wood and, from here on, it flanks the fence- in perimeter of a former military post.
On the right the fork goes downhill quickly and it reaches the trail that leads to the Maronari del Venda, while on the left it maintains its ups and downs at an altitude of 500 meters, until it reaches the scenic Corno del Venda: it is the sunny panoramic edge that looks onto the western Veneto plain.
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You’ll go beyond the “corner” coming back to the sunny southern side and, within a few meters, the vegetation changes completely: there is a domination of Mediterranean essences and of mixed thermophilic wood, that often opens panoramically onto the southern side of the Euganean Hills.
From this point it is quite common to see common buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks flying in the sky. The trail goes on for a good while having little altitude variations, it crosses with the one coming from the Fountains, and then it goes downward until it meets a second deviation that goes uphill again towards the Olivetani Remains; keeping on downward, there is a stretch made of chestnut-wood steps that leads to the starting stretch of the trail, thus closing up the ring.
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Not to be missed
Nearby, making a deviation
from the trail:
• Roccolo (0,4km) and Monte Rua monastery (1,4 km)
• Maronari del Venda (1,2km)
• Little church devoted to San Giovanni Gualberto (0,7 km)
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Characteristics |
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Departure point:
Casa Marina |
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Length:
5,5 km (deviation to the remains of the Olivetani monastery, 3 km) |
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When:
medium. It is advisable to
wear suitable clothes and hike
shoes |
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Average travelling time:
3-4 h (the deviation to the
remains of the Olivetani
monastery requires ca. 2h) |
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Degree of difficulty:
all year round, but
preferably in spring and in autumn |
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How to reach the departure point
Reaching the trail from Abano Terme (15 km): Cover the San Daniele strada provinciale until you reach the Torreglia city centre. Turn right on the Speronella strada provinciale that goes up hill, until you reach the fork for the Roccolo. Here the street (Roccolo street) goes up hill steeply with hairpin bends until the pass; go beyond the hill and, after 700 meters, you can either park your cars on the left, near the little church of San Giovanni, or turn right in Sottovenda street until you reach the parking area of Casa Marina, that is the Visitor Centre of Euganean Hills Park.
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