Up and down Mount Berico among the sacred, profane, villas and parks

One of the most striking places in the city is certainly Mount Berico, with its amazing view that stretches as far as the eye can see across the province and nearby mountains, and the Shrine to the Madonna, a symbol of devotion in a beautiful, small, seventeenth-century church that dominates the city from the hill. Starting from here, and going down viale X Giugno, you can walk along part of the Fogazzaro Roi Way, which passes by places and villas, world-famous icons of the culture and beauty of the Veneto region, described by the Vicenza writer, Antonio Fogazzaro, and much-loved by his great grandson, Marquis Giuseppe Roi.

The walk takes you along the mysterious, enchanting and strangely silent via Bastian with its villas to the delightful Villa Valmarana ai Nani featuring works by Tiepolo and his son, which, amid colour, drama and fairytales, evoke an atmosphere of bright and elegant eighteenth-century life and where you can now spend enjoyable relaxing moments sipping on an aperitif and admiring the surrounding scenery.

Continuing on, you come to Andrea Palladio's “La Rotonda”, a sublime example of architectonic genius and, going past the green and lush Valletta del Silenzio, you meet the cycle path that goes up the hill, immersed in green countryside. At the end you come to the Risorgimento and Resistance Museum housed in Villa Guiccioli with its majestic and regenerating park that overlooks the city.