Tom`s travels: Bycicle trip in the Colli Berici (07/05/2020)

After months of having to stay at home because of the lockdown, we were finally allowed to go out so I took the chance to do a bicycle trip in the Berici Hills just south of Vicenza. I had been there often, visiting different parts of these low hills that come out from this part of the alluvial plain so this time I decided to visit specific spots which I had never seen. I took my aunt's electric bicycle and rode off from my south in a southerly direction. I followed the bicycle path which starts just outside the city center and cycled while keeping the hills to my right; the wheat fields had taken a beautiful green color and the vineyards were growing lush. At one point I exited the cycle path to the right and headed slightly uphill until I reached the town of Castegnero. On top of a hill stood the nice church of San Giorgio, which I quickly reached, and from where I then had I nice view of the surrounding landscape. The day was gorgeous with a perfectly blue sky and a nice warm sun. The church was not open so I then decided to cycle further and reach another church set further uphill. On the way, I passed by some cherry trees which had started giving out their tasty fruits and so decided to pick some for myself to have as a snack. The town is in fact famous in the area for its cherries and I could definitely confirm it when I tried them from the trees. Not long after I then reached the Pieve di Nanto, once the main parish church of the nearby town of Nanto but now in the territory of Castegnero. The church dates to the 13th century and features a nice Romanesque-Gothic style, with a tall slender bell tower and a beautiful portal on its southern side sculpted in the 15th century. This church was closed as well so after getting back on the bicycle I decided to head further uphill and cycle through the center of the hills. The way up was tough even with the electric bike, but I then managed to reach the highest point from where I followed the road leading up and down through beautiful landscapes. A while after I then reached the town of Zovencedo where a nice medieval castle is located. Once much larger and an important defensive structure in this part of the hills, now just a well-built tower and part of the walls remain which are currently in private hands. On the other side of town, I then reached an interesting house which is entirely built inside the rock. This so-called Casa Rupestre was inhabited until 1959 and is a classic example of other houses which were built inside the rock around the area. The house was just abandoned then because during a storm a particularly violent thunder had hit it and made part of it rubble down. The family luckily survived but decided to leave it. Recently it has been restored and refurbished and can be visited by appointment with the living room and kitchen on the ground floor and the bedrooms above. Behind the house, I then visited an impressive quarry. Built inside the rock, this quarry, known as Cava Cice, was used in the past in order to extract the typical local stone which is rather soft and for this reason sought after for its workability. The quarry is currently not used anymore while others in the area still are. Once I had seen around I decided it was time to head, so after getting back on the bicycle I rode the last kilometers in the direction of home.