Itineraries

LIONA VALLEY (VAL LIONA)

Distance: 25 Km
Time: 1,30 hours
Difficulty: moderate-difficult

From the centre of Sossano you take a long and straight road that runs for all its length along the river Liona and it reaches after 3 kilometers Campolongo. In this small village there is Villa Dolfin once a bishop palace, converted into a residence for aristocracy in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries under the Venetian Republic. The pigeons' house is very interesting. It's a tower that stands aside from the main building and it has portals with 13-14th century gothic arches, arc windows typical in reinaissance in this area, enriched by basso-rilievoes, rilievoes, inscriptions and pilasters.

As we leave Campolongo and we cross river Liona, which gives the name to the valley, we arrive after one kilometer at Villa del Ferro where we find Villa Giacometti. Not far there is the late 15th century Villa Priuli now Lazzarini attributed to Vincenzo Scamozzi, one of Palladio's pupils. The use of the villa, according to the early owners, was both a country holiday residence and a farm for rice growing.  We reach Pederiva di Grancona and then we turn right in the direction of Zovencedo. Since the Roman period all this area (Grancona, Zovencedo, Nanto) is known for its quarries where they still extract a particular white stone used in buildings. Following direction to Pozzolo di Villaga on the right, the road becomes a bit steep. After two kilometers, descending on the left a narrow and steep road, it's possible to visit from the outside a beautiful and well-preserved water-mill. In this area there are some buildings belonging to a 13th century religious complex dedicated to Saint Donato. You can notice them on a rocky cliff near some caves. The local word "covoli" (caves) derives from the medioeval latin word cuballe. These calcareous stones form caves, especially on cliffs, due to karstification.

Back to our itinerary, you cross the tableland of Pozzolo and then descend to Toara di Villaga (3 Km). There you must stop for a while at Villa Piovene, a 13th century building with a guard tower now inside the complex. There is a wine cellar in the villa, belonging to the owner, a count, where you can taste and buy excellent wine. Back to the bikes you ride southwards along a large road, where on the left you can notice Castello Belvedere, once a medioeval castle. After one kilometer you reach the provincial road and then on the right 3 more kilometers and you are back to Sossano, the starting point.

LIONA VALLEY  TOCAI RED WINE ROAD SOSSANO TO LONIGO & WEST OF THE HILLS  SOSSANO TO MONTAGNANA

 
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