Dinosaur Footprints in Casera Casavento

On the morning of September 30, 1994, a group of students visiting the Parco Naturale Regionale delle Dolomiti Friulane discovered by chance the first fossil footprints of the "Dinosaur of the Park." They were imprinted on a Dolomitic boulder dating back to the Triassic period, that is more than 200 million years ago. The dinosaur footprints found in the Main Dolomia of the Dolomites open a very interesting issue, since their discovery demonstrates without a doubt that the presence of the dinosaurs in the Italian peninsula was not occasional as it was always thought to be. The footprints, which have been found in Casera Casavento, can be observed on a boulder situated in the nearby stream called Ciol de Ciasavent.

To see all our pictures of the Dinosaur Footprints and Italian fall colors, click here.

La Partita a Scacchi (Human Chess Game)

In 1454 in the small town of Marostica, which then still belonged to the Venetian Republic, two noble knights, Rinaldo D'Angarano and Vieri da Vallonara, challenged each other to a duel to win the hand of the beautiful Lionora. Taddeo Parisio, father of Lionora and Lord of the Marostica castle, not wanting to make an enemy of either suitor or loose them in a duel, forbade the encounter in conformity with Cangrande della Scala's Edict. He decided the two rivals should play a chess game: Lionora would take the winner as her husband and the loser would in any case join his family, marrying Oldrada, the younger sister. The Lord also decided the challenge should be honored by an performance of armed men, fool-soldiers and knights, with fireworks and dances and music.

The game took place in the town's main square, which was inlay-ed with marble to resemble a giant checkerboard. Each knight had people dressed to represent the various chess pieces and they carried a white or black ensign. Each knight would call out their move and the people would move according to the instructions of each knight.

To complicate things more, Lionora was secretly in love with one of the two knights. Lady Lionora secretly informed the population that if the winner were her beloved, the Lower Castle would be illuminated by white light so that all the town's people could share in their joy.

To commemorate this historic event, the people of Marostica recreate this human chess match every even numbered year. The event involves over 550 characters and last two hours. Once the sun sets, the event begins with archers high on the towers of the Lower Castle shooting flaming arrows to the outskirts of the chess board. In a burst of flames, the chess board comes to life. The orders are still given to the characters and cast today in the "Serenissima Republic of Venezia" dialect. The game ends in a celebration of music, dance, and fireworks.

To view all my pictures of the Human Chess Game, click here. To see a short video of the spectacular finale, click here.

Fiera dell'Aglio di Voghiera

The Fiera dell'Aglio di Voghiera, or Garlic Festival, is held every August when the year's crop is harvested. Set at the Castello del Belriguardo, fair goers can sample garlic gelato (yes, I tried it), garlic bread, typical Ferrarese raviolis with cheese and garlic, and grilled meats with garlic of course! Fairgoers can join the competition for the best poem extolling the virtues of garlic and take part in a dance contest. You can also buy enough garlic to last you for a year. What makes the Voghiera garlic so special? The experts tell me it's a combination of whiteness, large cloves, and that it lasts a long time before going moldy.

Antique cars join in the festivities with a car show and the Castello del Belriguardo opens free entrance to the Archaeological Museum of Belriguardo.

Ferrara, Italy

Ferrara is still surrounded by more than 9 kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Together with those of Lucca, they are the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy. Today, you can walk or even take a bicycle ride along the top of the walls.

The most iconic building of the town is the imponent Castello Estense, which is situated in the very center of the city. Surrounded by a moat, it has three entrances with drawbridges fronted by brickwork ravelins and four massive bastions. It was built starting in 1385 and partly restored in 1554 after it suffered damaged from the earthquake of 1507 that severely shook the city for more than a year.

The first of the Gothic rooms on the ground floor is certainly the most beautiful, with rich decorations of clusters of flowers running along the ribs of the vault. The room is dedicated to Nicolà II d’Este, his portrait on the hanging tapestry, who built the castle. A magnificent reconstruction of the castle in wood in the early years of its existence fills the room.

Also on the ground floors are several dungeons. The first, the Don Giulio Dungeon, was a small cell and torture chamber for Giulio d'Este, the illegitimate son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and brother of Alfonso I and Cardinal Ippolito. The two brothers both fell in love with the same woman, Angela Borgia, cousin of the Duchess Lucrezia. This gracious and much-courted maiden granted her preference to Giulio; the Cardinal ordered his soldiers to seize, kill, and stab Giulio. The order was partially carried out, as Giulio brutally beaten with both eyes stabbed. In 1506 Giulio was imprisoned in the dungeon, where he served 63 years.

The other notable dugneon was is the cells that held the unlucky lovers Ugo and Parisina. Parisina Malatesta was the second wife of Marquis Niccolò III. After seven years of marriage, Parisian ended up falling in love with her stepson Ugo, son of the Marquis and Stella dei Tolomei, and he with her. The two were discovered, subjected to a rapid trial and finally beheaded. In Ugo’s, on the ceiling is prisoners' writing done with candle smoke.

Out of the depths of the dungeons, the first floor brings you to the lovely Garden of the Oranges and the sweet smell of orange blossoms. Directly inside the courtyard is the The Ducal Chapel . The vault is decorated with frescoes portraying the Four Evangelists surrounded by cherubs, each of them respectively recognizable by the lion (Saint Mark), the eagle (Saint Luke), the angel (Saint Matthew) and the bull (Saint John) in accordance with the iconographic tradition.

The Coat of Arms room displays two series of decorations from the Papal States period. The older is a long series of coat of arms with the Papal Tiara and the Keys of St. Peter; one part is taken up with the coats of arms of the Popes from Clement VIII (1592-1605) to Pius VI (1775-1799). Beneath this is a decoration with the coats of arms of the Cardinal Papal Legates who had their residence in the castle.

Not far from the castle are the anciet City Hall and the Cathedral of Saint George, begun in 1135, when the Romanesque lower part of the main façade and the side façades were completed. According to a now lost inscription the church was built in 1135 by Guglielmo I of Adelardi (d. 1146), who is buried in it. The sculpture of the main portal is the signed work of the artifex Nicholaus, mentioned in the lost inscription as the architect for the church. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, while the lower part of the protiro or projecting porch and the main portal are by Nicholaus. The recumbent lions guarding the entrance are replacements of the originals, now in the narthex of the church.

Bassano del Grappa

Bassano Del Grappa is famous for the spirit Grappa. Grappa is now a protected name in the EU, just like Barolo wine and Parmigiano cheese. To be called grappa, the following criteria must be met:

(1) Produced in Italy
(2) Produced from pomace
(3) Fermentation and distillation must occur on the pomace—no added water

The legend tells that a Roman soldier first distilled Grappa in the northern Italian town of Bassano del Grappa using a distilling equipment stolen in Egypt (“Crisiopea di Cleopatra” 2nd century AD). The city itself was founded in the 2nd century BCE by a Roman called Bassianus, hence the original name Bassano Veneto. After the terrible battles on Mount Grappa in WWI , where thousands of soldiers lost their lives, a decision was made to change the name of the town. In 1928, the name was changed to Bassano del Grappa, meaning Bassano of Mount Grappa, as a memorial to the soldiers killed.

The symbol of Bassano del Grappa is the covered wooden pontoon bridge , which was designed by the architect Andrea Palladio in 1569. The bridge was destroyed many times, the last time during WWII. The Alpine soldiers, or Alpini have always revered the wooden bridge and Bassano del Grappa. After the destruction of the bridge, they took up a private collection and had the bridge completely rebuilt. Often soldiers flock to the bridge to remember and sing songs from their days as alpine soldiers. The bridge is aptly named the Ponte delgi Alpini. 


Aquavite (grappa) Nardini has been produced and bottled in Bassano del Grappa since 1779. The founder of Italy’s most traditional distillery was Bortolo Nardini, who purchased in April of that year, an inn at the eastern entrance of the famous wooden covered Bassano bridge, on the Brenta river bank. The inn soon became the “Grapperia Nardini”, strategically located for both the ample water supply, a necessary element in the distillation process, as well as its accessibility to the local regional markets. The Grapperia Nardini is preserved in its original state allowing it to be included in the exclusive Association of Historical Places of Italy.

Festa del Redentore

The Festa del Redentore began as a feast to give thanks for the end of the terrible plague of 1576, which killed 50,000 people, including the great painter Tiziano Vecellio (Titian). The Doge Alvise I Mocenigo promised to build a magnificent church if the plague ended. Andrea Palladio was commissioned, assisted by Da Ponte, to build the magnificent church on the Island of Giudecca. The church, known as Il Redentore, was consecrated in 1592, and is one of the most important examples of Palladian religious architecture. After the foundation stone was laid, a small wooden church was temporarily built, along with temporary bridge of barges from the Zattere, so that the Doge Sebastian Venier could walk in procession as far as the tabernacle. Afterward, the Doge made a pilgrimage to the Church of Redentore every year.

The festival is the third Saturday and Sunday of every July. For this weekend only each year, a bridge of barges is built connecting Giudecca to the rest of Venice. On Saturday evening at 7pm the 333m-long bridge, called the Ponte Votivo (votive bridge) is opened and there is a special religious ceremony at the Il Redentore. Beginning at 11:30pm, a 45 minute firework display is lit over the Il Redentore and the lagoon, which is filled with boats decorated with lights and garlands. Once the fireworks are over, the young people of the city head off to the Lido, where they sit on the sand and wait for dawn.

To view a short video of the fireworks, click here.

Lessinia Regional Nature Park

It is not easy to believe that in the past, instead of Lessinia, the area was covered with a warm sea rich in tropical flora and fauna. A drive up the steep slopes of the pre-Alps, will bring you to Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, where the Museo Paleontoglogico e Preistorio will help you to discover how 50 million years ago this area was covered a big sea rich in many fish and plants. The building itself is built out of stone from the area and is divided into two parts.. The first part is devoted to geology of the territory, to explanations of the stratigraphys of the local caves, and to the exhibition of a series of fossils of exceptional value, among them a shark more than six meters long and a sea turtle, reptiles, ammonites, and echinoderms. The second part is devoted to local prehistory, rich of findings of incredible value, such as those of the cave of Fumane, including a 35,000 year old cave drawing and Roman coins intricate with detail.

Nearby is the Ponte di Veja, the largest natural bridge in Europe at 50 meters high. The bridge is the result of natural formation of the cavern. In the beginning there was a cavern of karstic origin. The structure of the cavern was represented by a sort of architrave formed by the bridge with soluble calcareous rock below. The waters of the torrents passed over the bridge, forming a waterfall. With the passing of time the sinkholes were formed bringing the waters inside the cavern, this fact led to the digging, the most soluble part leaving only the arch in red ammonitic limestone. According to a popular legend, Dante Alighieri, exiled in Verona and the guest of Cangrande della Scala, was inspired by the bridge for the description of Malebolge.

Studies and excavations began in 1932 of the caves surrounding the bridge. Estimates of human presence are based on the Upper Paleolithic and date back 100,000 years with the area populated until about 10,000 years ago, a period of probable loss of the extracting of flints for the appearance of metal in sufficient quantity for the first articles made with flint. Residents near the bridge had to be skilled craftsmen at work building the flint arrows, needles, and pins. 

Stop by the Trattoria Ponte di Veja after exploring the bridge and surrounding area. The menu includes several specialties with tartufo nero (black truffles) from the park.

Molina is a Medieval village at the junction between three valleys in steep wooded mountainside. The village itself is charming. The old stone houses reflect the style of the western Lessinia, and its botanical museum in the main square has a fine exhibition of local flora. Located below the village, is the Parco delle Cascate (Waterfalls Park), the main attraction of the village.

The final immersion of the Lessini region took place during the Tertiary era, 25 -30 million years ago, and the rocks in this area, since the moment of their sub-aerial exposition, were subjected to the action of atmospheric agents which caused their modification and fragmentation. The waterfalls were originated along the rivers because of the presence of rocks with different levels of erodibility. The clayey waterproof layers of the Biancone limestone prevent meteoric water from filtering under the ground, thus causing the creation of springs. 

From the village, follow the path to the park entrance (about 10 minute walk). And if you think the path to the entrance is steep and strenuous, turn back! Once inside the park, you can follow one of three trails. The first is the easy trail and will take you to the grotto and Cascata Nero. The red path (medium difficulty) passes by all but the panoramic viewpoint, the round well, and the Dark-breasts cave. The black path is the most difficult and passes along all points, with several very steep uphill ascents. From either the red or black paths, be sure to zip along the cableway across the Cascata del Tombolino and the bravest can swing right into the Cascata Nera. Stop by the bar once you reach the top to rest for a few minutes and cool down with an ice cream. 

To view all my pictures of Lessinia Regional Nature Park, visit http://public.fotki.com/Davis2001r6/italy-2011/lessinia-nature-par/