I5 - The Treviso-Ostiglia

Treviso, Park of the River Sile, Piombino Dese, Camposampiero

Treviso is a lovely city; crystalline canals reflect ancient frescoed palaces and the arcades leading to Piazza dei Signori where the Palazzo dei Trecento stands.

Soon enough, at Quinto di Treviso the path borders the Sile, a source river protected by a Regional Park, where the visitor centre has been set up inside the old mill of Cervara. Back on the cycle path we arrive at Badoere di Morgano, where with a short detour we will arrive at a unique piazza composed of two arcaded chambers that have accommodated the shops and houses of craftsmen for more than three hundred years.

The trail is shaded by locust trees, maples and oaks which constitute a linear wood interrupted only by original railway stations, now being enhanced.  We ride through the territory of Trebaseleghe and Piombino Dese.

We have arrived in the heart of Valle Agredo, a territory where the crystalline waters of the springs flow and where the regular weaving of the fields, the orthogonal intersections of the ditches and roads, make these lands a sort of archaeological agrarian landscape.

We stop at Camposampiero to admire its two medieval towers, the Venetian palaces with arcades and the precious sanctuaries of Saint Antonio.

Camposampiero, Piazzola sul Brenta, Vicenza

Before resuming the Treviso - Ostiglia cycle path, it is possible a detour toward S. Giustina in Colle and S. Giorgio delle Pertiche, following the sinuous course of the Tergola river.

Now is the time to continue in the direction of the lands of the Brenta. In Pieve di Curtarolo the path climbs from the country plane and joins the new cycle bridge to cross the river Brenta.

It follows a beautiful stretch in the municipality of Piazzola sul Brenta; near the former station we leave the trail to reach the monumental Villa Contarini - Fondazione G.E. Ghirardi. The view is surprising. The gaze is captured by the princely Venetian residence while on the sides the filed of vision is closed by a double colonnade to the right and a high hedge of hornbeams to the left. Piazzola sul Brenta is distinguished from the other towns encountered by its urban shape, the result of the industrial development that took place at the end of the nineteenth century at the behest of the rich Camerini family.

Having resumed the path in the direction of Vicenza, we cross Campodoro and continue the path until Grisignano di Zocco, famous for the ancient Fair of the end of the summer.

Having passed through the centre, pending the completion of the cycle path, it is recommended to reach the Bacchiglione river on country roads where a comfortable cycle path along the embankment leads to Vicenza. Having left the Euganean hills behind us, we will ride in the direction of the Berici Hills, a picturesque, compact and peak-less group of hills.

 At Longare the cycle path has been formed along another former railroad. Our arrival in Vicenza is anticipated by the tall bell tower of the sanctuary of Monte Berico and two works by Palladio: Villa Capra Valmarana "La Rotonda" and the nearby Arco delle Scalette.