30 minutes around the Distillery

The result of a long and passionate research, the Poli Grappa Museum is an act of recognition of the Poli Family towards Grappa. The main nucleus from which the Museum originated consists of a collection of ancient and modern book concerning Grappa and the art of distillation. Among the most important works, the "Liber de ar te distillandi" by Hieronymus Brunschwigh deserves to be mentioned, published on May 8th 1500; it is the first text ever printed about this subject.

The distillery, founded in Schiavon in 1898 and owned by the Poli family, produces Grappa using an alembic completely made in copper, among the very few still existing, composed by steam-pots with a discontinuous cycle and is one of the major producers of Venetian artisanal Grappa. The facilities in Schiavon, rich in charm and history, represent the Poli's tradition and innovation, with the historic distillery next to the second venue of the Poli Grappa Museum.

Certainly one of the most fascinating and romantic places in Italy. Destroyed many times by the river’s rage or by the humankind, it was always rebuilt according to the techniques and the project by Palladio dated 1569, who sorted out in a genial and highly scenic way the river passage, on which there were previous twelve-century artefacts. After World War II the National Alpine Association rebuilt it and since then it got the denomination of Ponte degli Alpini (Alpine Bridge) to consolidate the tradition and affection much dear to the soldiers since the World War I.

The Ceramic Museum is guested since 1992 in the eighteenth-century Sturm Palace, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, from which you can enjoy a splendid view over the Ponte Vecchio ('Old Bridge’). The Museum was founded and it expanded thanks to the donations of the citizens of Bassano del Grappa. The exhibition path is arranged according to the chronological order: from the thirteenth century up to nowadays, and by type (according to the shape, decorations, and materials). The most florid era for the manufacture of pottery in Bassano is the Six and Eighteenth Century, with the factories Manardi, Moretto, Marinoni, Ducati, Valleys and Viero. Nevertheless, the manufactory consolidated in the Venetian Republic of the eighteenth century is the Antonibon, founded in Nove with its majolica (since 1727), its hard-wearing porcelain (since 1752) and the "pottery for English use" (since 1786). In the nineteenth century, some new companies bloomed, founded by workers from the great manufactures of Antonibon and Viero: Giovanni Battista Marcon, Gaetano Bonato and Antonio Passarin. The 20th century is represented by the production series of Bassano and Nove and by important artworks by national and international artists.

Located in the center of the city, from the top of its 50 meters it allows you to appreciate an extraordinary panorama. Inside it there is an exhibition of the urban development of the city from 998 to to nowadays. You can also see the eighteenth-century clock 'machine' by Bartolomeo Ferracina da Solagna, multi-faceted 'engineer of the Serenissima' specialized in the construction of industrial and hydraulic machines, scientific machines and large clocks for bell towers, best known for the construction of the clock 'dei mori' on the Clock Tower of Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Inside it some finds of the two World Wars are and the Resistance are stored, particularly referring to the Alpini deeds and history. The museum contains many vintage photos, next to manuscripts and letters concerning the battlefront. There are also documents regarding the Bridge reconstruction over in 1948, significantly supported by the Alpini’s contribution.

The Charnel House Temple, located in the Southern part of Bassano, is an imposing neo-gothic red-bricked construction with a double bell tower and a façade decorated by some pinnacles that dominates the Piazzale Cadorna (Cadorna Square). It was recently enriched with a large fountain by the sculptor from Pove del Grappa Natalino Andolfatto. The external part is in gothic-venetian style with some traces romantic style. After World War II in the piedmont cemeteries around the Mount Grappa many soldiers were temporarily buried while waiting for a permanent and decorous solution. The Dome served then as Charnel House. Inside the Charnel House lay about 6000 soldiers, 236 of them were honoured with medals. During August 1936 inside the temple some funerals were celebrated by the General Gaetano Giardino, where he also wished to be buried, together “with his soldiers”, this is what he wrote in his memories.

The exhibition itinerary’s thread is “the journey”, repeated according to a timeline that entwines the family events with the produced materials on a journey that expands along 200 years of human history and the civilization of the European image, between the mid-Seventeenth and the mid-Nineteenth Century. The new museum, one of the few ones in Italy dedicated to the press and certainly the most renowned, illustrates in its six rooms dedicated to the permanent exhibition, all the aspects of the seven-nineteenth-century industrial phenomenon of the Remondini, an ideal journey introduced by the Tesini templates designed by Luzzati. Between his whole production you may find books, decorated papers, sacred and profane popular engravings, cut-out sheets, little soldiers, games, optical views, etchings and xylography of the greatest Italian and European engravers. Amongst these Mantegna, Dürer, Canaletto and Tiepolo. The multimedia and the documentaries support the didactic apparatus, printed in both Italian and English, for an up to date learning, particularly pleasant and fulfilling.

Inside the San Francesco convent, annexed to the namesake Church, the Civic Museum is situated since the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. The Civic Museum of Bassano is one of the most ancient civic museums within the Veneto Region. It was founded in 1828, it was then linked to the naturalist Giambattista Brocchi’s heritage. The museum’s picture gallery displays the most complete collection of the operas by Jacopo dal Ponte called “Bassano” and it represents his whole artistic production starting from 1534 up to 1592, the year he passed away. The museum’s heritage includes today a rich archaeological area belonging to the Government, with its archaeological findings in Bassano and the nearby territory starting from the end of the Nineteenth Century; a ceramic collection coming from the grave furnishes of Puglia’s colonies in Magna Grecia, donated by the doctor-collector Virgilio Chini; the Library with its prints collection by the Remondini Family, famous eighteen-century engravers; the Municipal Historical Archive and the Canoviana Section that includes 2000 drawings, the epistolary, the library, the drafts and numerous plaster works; the monochromes’ unique series by Antonio Canova. The Museum’s located in the old San Francesco Convent, nowadays only the Church and the Cloister remain.

It is the only European museum of this sector to organize six-monthly theme exhibitions. During spring and winter new and exciting themes are proposed, and they hit different aspects such as technical, sporty and social. Since 1991 up to nowadays, 28 different themes were presented. In 1991, 2000, 2001 and 2004 the museum won the Trophy as Best European Engine Museum by an International Jury, in occasion of a 3-days competition that takes place yearly in Mulhouse (France), where the main sector museums in Europe participate.

Antonio Canova’s birth house in Possagno became today a museum that includes the picture gallery by the artist, some drawings, the operas engravings and many relics. Next to the house, you may find the ancient Gypsothèque by Canova, a massive basilica-shaped building created to gather gypsum models, terracotta drafts and some marbles previously kept in the artist’s studio in Rome when he passed away. The Canovian Gypsothèque was expanded in 1957, in occasion of the 200th Anniversary of the artist’s birth, with a new section projected by the Venetian Architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978).

On the Castello Inferiore di Marostica’s first floor, besides the Consiglio Comunale hall (belonging to the Venetian Republic since 1400); the Potestà hall and Sede Podestarile and the Army hall, you may find the hall with costumes and weapons of the famous Chess Match. Here you can admire the Chessboard’s Blacks and Whites, the contenders, the governors’ Court, daughter and sister, herald, nurse, vexillum, falconer, towers and much more.

The Maglio Museum in Breganze is unique in its gender in the Vicenza territory and can fully represent the historical memory of the numerous workshops once present in the territory. Here you find a vast collection, complete in the main machineries as well as in the manual tools’ variety belonging to the last working locksmith, Angelo Tamiello.

The eco-museum in Crosara, a fraction of the Marostica hills, was born by a growing sensibility and interest towards the past traditions, which risks being lost and it witnesses and cherishes our origins linked to the rural civilization. In the halls, there are equipment, objects, historic photography and biographies telling the story of straw processing on the hills areas in Marostica from the period beginning 1800 until mid-1900. In the museum, there are some other activities typical of the local rural tradition, such as milk processing and cherries harvest.

The widespread museum is a compound of six different museum sites: ethnographic Museum Palazzon, prehistoric Village in Monte Cognon, windmills Valley, bothanic Garden in Monte Corno, the Wood works.

The civic collection of Nove is one of the few ones on the national territory and is entirely dedicated to ceramic. It documents accurately the ceramic's history from the Veneto Region, in particular from Nove and Vicenza, since up to nowadays. It includes extremely beautiful and significant pieces and it represents all the most important ceramics produced in our region such as terracotta, cristal, majolica, porcelain, crockery, semi-refractory, stoneware. Nevertheless the different production and decoration techniques. Its completeness makes of it the ideal workshop for various educational activities, offered to every school level. One of the most remarkable and famous pieces in the whole museum is a big vase by Pablo Picasso.

The Basilica Palladiana is a public building facing of the Piazza dei Signori in Vicenza. Its name is linked to the Reinassance architecht Andrea Palladio, who projected the Palazzo della Ragione and added to the previuosly existing gothic construction the renowned white marble arches. The Basilica Palladiana is equipped with three independent exhibition spaces that once used to be site of the public magistrates and is today a theater that guests architechture and art exhibitions. Since 1994 it's in the list of World Heritage Sites.

The Nature Architecture Museum in Santa Corona, inaugurated in 1991, is locaated in the ex-convent next to Santa Corona Church. It guests numerous fossils and findings revided in the territory around the province of Vicenza, such as remainings of settlements from Paleolithic's age and remainings of the Lombards, on the top of the Roman age.

The Reinassance and Resistance Museum of Vicenza rises o the Ambellicopoli Hills at Villa Guiccioli, shortly after the Monte Berico's Sanctuary. The Institute collects the memories of events and figures belonging to the History of Italy, which were the protagonists in the historic vicissitudes of the city. The documents and relics collected witness in fact the events of Vicenza and the National ones - and in some cases even european ones, such as the war vicissitudes from the first Italian campaign by Napoleone Bonaparte in 1796 to the end of World War II and the Liberation Battle (1943-1945). The museum is surrounded by a vast garden, also open to the public.

The Olimpic Theather was projected by the architect Andrea Palladio in 1580.It is considered the first example of a stable covered theater in the modern times. The theater's building was commissioned to Palladio by the Olympic Academy for the staging of classical comedies. Its construction began in 1580 and was inaugurated on March 3rd 1585, after the realization of the famous fixed scenes by Vincenzo Scamozzi. These wooden structures are the only ones from the Renaissance period which reached us and by the way, in excellent condition. The theater is still home to performances and concerts and was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1994, like the other Palladian works in Vicenza.

Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance building located next to the end of Corso Palladio. Designed in 1550 as a noble residence by the architect Andrea Palladio and built starting in 1551, it was completed only at the end of the seventeenth century. Historic site of the civic museum, currently houses the civic picture gallery, which includes collections of prints, drawings, numismatics, medieval and modern statuary. The palace is included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Exhibition Center of Artigianato Artistico Vicentino on a surface of almost 300 m², you can admire the works of the best artisans in the province of Vicenza. ViArt, unique for its characteristics in the Italian exhibition scene, offers the opportunity to take a real journey within the craft production of the Vicenza area, discovering along the way the wonders that art, genius and dexterity of the masters artisans have been able to create.

The Santuario della Madonna di Monte Berico dominates the city of Vicenza from the hill located south-west of the city. It consistsof two churches: the first in Gothic style, the second one is a basilica in classical and baroque style.The two churches' construction is linked to the two apparitions of the Madonna in this place to a peasant named Vincenza Pasini: the first on March 7th, 1426; the other one on August 1st, 1428. In those years, a serious plague's epidemy raged in Vicenza , causing many victims. During the appearance, the Madonna asked for the construction of he sanctuary to stop the plague. According to popular tradition, after the second apparition, the first church was built in just three months, at the end of which the plague was eradicated. Since 1978, the Madonna di Monte Berico is the main patron of the city of Vicenza and its diocese.

The Biblioteca Civica Bertoliana is a public cultural institution of the municipality of Vicenza. Inaugurated in the early 18th century, it is the oldest and most important library in the city. The heritage of the library's headquarter consists of 450,000 volumes approximately (200,000 of which are ancient - published from 1501 to 1830); 750 titles, 3,550 manuscripts, historical archives (the "Tower" of Vicenza's city hall, family archives, personal archives , archives of ancient hospitals and special archives); an iconographic section; a photographic, a musical, a microfilm section.

Palazzo Leoni Montanari is a Baroque building located in Vicenza and dating back to 1678. It houses an important museum (known as the Galleries of Palazzo Leoni Montanari), with a collection of some masterpieces of the eighteenth-century's Venetian painting and a collection of ancient Russian icons .

The Castle of Thiene is an extraordinary example of pre-Palladian villa: unique specimen in its gender, considered a stronghold in the evolution of Venetian villas. The Castle of Thiene, credited to the architect Domenico da Venezia, was built in the mid-fifteenth century, committed by the illustrious Porto family from Vicenza. The Castle's halls still preserve their original furniture, clothes, accessories and a wide portraits collection. The most important frescoes cycle was realised by Gian Battista Zelotti and Gian Antonio Fasolo. Here you can admire the gorgeous byres, built between the 17th and the 18th century and designed by the architect Francesco Muttoni, and the little monumental complex of the church dedicated to the Nativity of Virgin Mary. The Castle, symbol of Thiene, is located in the historical centre of the city and it is surrounded by 12'000 square meters of green. In the historical gardens, you may find: "the noble court" with ancient magnolias, the cedars park, the renaissance cave, and the 16th's century ice house. The Castle of Thiene maintains unchanged its original personality offering its visitors the possibility to savour life in a villa.

A theater of decisive battles during the First World War and some events of the Second World War, it is known by many for its memorial shrine of Cima Grappa, containing the military remains of Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers together with a museum of the Great War. Also famous is the Sacello della Madonna Ausiliatrice inaugurated on August 4th, 1901 by Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto (later Pope Pio X). During the First World War, after the Italian defeat of Caporetto, the peak became the pivot of Italian defense, so much so that the Austrians tried in vain and repeatedly to conquer it to have access to the Venetian lowland. By building caves in the rock and fixed artillery positions, from the mountain top the Italians used to dominate and monitor the front up to Montello, along a line that starts from Monte Valderoa and goes up to Colle Caprile. During the Second World War the Mount Grappa was a refuge for partisan formations.

The city center has two garden areas that are by now historic and are in the heart of every Bassano's inhabitant. Described as a "place of delight" in the guides of the last century, the Parolini Garden is the only example of botanical garden in the region independent from the University. A welcoming and rich green island in the historic center of Bassano built in 1805 by Alberto Parolini, a nobleman from Bassano who actively participated in the culture of the city of the early nineteenth century. The influence of Giambattista Brocchi is fundamental and, above all, of the trip to London, where the best known naturalists of the time were gathered and from which the taste of the English landscape gardens spread rapidly. Inside the garden you can find: the famous Cedro del Libano, the Pinus Parolinii, in memory of the species discovered by Parolini himself in Asia in 1819, the Platanus Orientalis about 30 meters high, the Taxus Baccata also called "tree of death" and the Cercis Siliquastrum.

Spread over 40,000 m2, it is home to hundreds of animal species, for which their ideal habitat was recrerated, including ponds, rocks, waterfalls, meadows, trees and shrubs that offer visitors spectacular colors in all the seasons. The Park is enriched with more than 500 vegetable species, including aquatic plants, ferns, palms, conifers and broad-leaved trees wisely arranged along the paths. Since 2009 (bicentenary of Charles Darwin), it is possible to visit the Cappeller Museum, dedicated to the evolution of mankind and animals.

The Alberto Parolini civic museum of speleology and karst formations was born in 1994 with the desire of making the public more sensitive towards the conservation of groundwater resources and the importance of researches carried out by speleologists, able to provide valuable naturalistic and environmental data. The museum's goal is also becoming a landmark for the Venetian speleologists: a place to bring together the acquired knowledge through study and explorations and from which it's possible to provide new stimulations to keep researching.

Nature and art, history and tradition. A new relationship between contemporary sculpture and environmental protection. A continuous discovery of exciting works of art by many internationally renowned artists. The visit is exciting and rewarding, especially for and with children, and it requires at least half of a day, but you can spend the whole day alternating a picnic in the wood.

Villa Almerico Capra called La Rotonda is a central Venetian villa located near the city of Vicenza. Built by Paolo Almerico, who commissioned it to Andrea Palladio from 1566, it was completed by the two Capra brothers who acquired the building in 1591. La Rotonda, became known later, is one of the most celebrated buildings in the history of modern era's architecture. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is undoubtedly Palladio's most famous villa.

Villa Godi Malinverni is the first Villa designed and realized by the architect Andrea Palladio in 1542. The Villa, dominating the Astico Valley, offers a rare beauty's landscape. Wide English gardens with statues by Albanese and Marinali decorate the central facade, while in the rear, there is a secular park with Italian gardens, beautiful little lakes and large green spaces rich of unique and original plants. The Villa encloses all the principles by the maker, Andrea Palladio: a central body; the noble floors; two side wings, where the rooms are located (not representative rooms, but daily use ones); the rural building, enriched by the pigeon house. The central body is composed by nine frescoed halls and decorated with its original furniture from 600-700 and with the Loggia, from which you may enjoy a wonderful sight on the valley. Three great artists realized the remarkable pictorial work inside the noble floor of Villa Godi Malinverni: Gualtiero Padovano, Gianbattista Zelotti and Battista Del Moro. Inside the Villa, located on the ground floor, you may visit the 500th Cucinone, considered one of the most characteristic of that time.

Laid down on the foothills from the Astico river to the Brenta river, not far from Vicenza and Bassano del Grappa, the city if Marostica is encased among the ancient walls of its Castles and still preserves the magic of past times. The fearuring walls starts from the upper Colle Pausolino and descend to the historic center, connecting the Upper Castle to the Lower Castle. The Carmini trail ("Sentiero dei Carmini") is a panoramic walk along the walls, giving to the visitors a suggestive landscape. The Doglione (formerly named "Rocca di Mezzo" from the medieval times), surely deserved a visit. The building was initially a toll gate for entering and in transit goods, becoming then the Chancellery's headquarters for protocols and armory archive. The renowned chess game was considered the highest expression of tradition in Marostica, a magic moment for this city, also defined "Chess City". It's about a medieval re-enactment, coming to life every 2 years in the famous "Piazza degli Scacchi" (Chess Square), in front of the "Castello Inferiore" (Lower Castle), named after a legend. The game of living pawns is disputed on the second Friday, Saturday and Sunday in September, always on even years and involves over 500 charachters dressed with vintage costumes.

Survived to the toughest times of history, the medieval castle's high walls named the "Marca Trevigiana" (the local value of Treviso). Embraced by this fascinating walls, among the best preserved in Italy, the historic center of Castelfranco Veneto rises, where you can still breathe the atmosphere and a past rich of history. When the sun sets Castelfranco shows its most striking appeareance, when the lightened Castle becomes a fairytale presence. Castelfranco is known all over the world as Giorgione's hometown. The residence guesting this extraordinary figure is today the headquarter of Giorgione's House Museum (Casa Pellizzari), where the "Fregio delle Arti liberali e meccaniche" is preserved, the only fresco attributed to him. The most important opera by the Master is "Pala di Castelfranco", which it is possible to admire inside the "Duomo di S. Maria Assunta" (St. Mary Assunta's Dome), inside the "Cappella Costanzo" (Costanzo Chapel).

Pretty walled city of the medieval times, Cittadella preserves intact its boundary in the shape of an irregular ellipse's shape. The walls, still visitable, were built arond 1220 for defensive purposes and they offer an enchanting panorama of the city. Cittadella, awarded with a silver medal for the military value of its activity in the partisan battle during the second world war, was also mentioned in the "Divina Commedia" by Dante with its "Torre di Malta", the prison built in 1251 by Ezzelino III. Today the Tower is the venue of an archeological museum. The Dome still preserves many artworks, while the "Palazzo della Loggia" and the "Teatro Sociale" became symbols of this city. For a jump back in the history, you just need to visit this city at the end of September in occasion of the re-enactment "Voci dell'Evo di Mezzo", when the Medieval times come back to life with its costumes, the traditions and atmosphere of those period.

The enchanting geographic location surrounded by hills and favored by a mild climate, allows the visitors to dive in the enchantment of this medieval city located in the province of Vicenza. The architectural context of Bassano del Grappa is a dip into art: the city center's streets are adorned by artworks of great authors such as Palladio, Canova, Jacopo Da Ponte, Marinali and Dall'Acqua. In Bassano del Grappa there is the most ancient Civic Museum in the Veneto region, which deserved a visit, together with the suggestive "Loggia dei Potestà". But the symbolic city monument is the "Ponte Vecchio" (Old Bridge) by Palladio, which joins its image to the epic story of the Great War's alpinists. During the centuries, because of sudden floods, it was repeatedly rebuilt observing every time the original pattern by Palladio. At one of the bridge's entrances there is the Alpine's Museum, home to historical documents and vintage relics. Bassano del Grappa is also known for another two great traditions that made it famous: first of all the ceramic, whose productions are linked to the prestigious family Antonibon and can be admired at the Ceramic Museum located inside the "Palazzo Sturm". The other is typography, developed between 1600 and 1800 by the Remondinis, illustrious family of publishers and calcographers worthy of notes for the most important Italian typography industry. Another great example of medieval architecture is featured by the "Fortezza" (Fortress, erected to defend the city and whose towers and walls still remain); as well as the "Torre Civica" (Civic Tower, which allows to enjoy from its top an exclusive panorama of the nearby mountains) and the Dome.

Declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, Vicenza is ornamented by a majestic architecture that decorates it all with juts one name: Andrea Palladio. This architecture genie left here the most evident mark of his art, which can be admired in the in buildings of unmistakable elegance. Among all the "Basilica Palladiana", from whose upper floor you may enjoy a breathtaking view of the below squares and the gorgeous "Loggia del Capitanio". As the city's background there are other operas with the great architect: "Palazzo Chiericati" (today venue of the Civic Museum and its picture gallery), "Palazzo Barbaran da Porto" (venue of the Palladio Museum) and "Palazzo Valmarana". Particularly valuable for its scenography adopted is the Olympic Theater, completed by Scamozzi. At the gates of Vicenza, we meet one of its most known architectural symbols, namely the countryside house "Villa Almerico-Capra" also named "La Rotonda",famous for its particular development of the central part that fits harmoniously in the natural setting of the Berici Hills. Not far from the center, on the hills that dominate the city, the Basilica of Monte Berico is erected and holds in it precious artworks, suck as a canvas representing the "Cena di S. Gregorio Magno" by Paolo Veronese.

Led by expert guides enabled by the "Federazione Italiana Rafting" and with technical material sanctioned by the most recent community regulations, you'll be the protagonist in this singular excursion on inflatable boats designed for this purpose. Rafting on the Brenta River, a marvellous experience not to be missed

The association Montegrappa.org suggests and advises some excursion with snowshoes organized by Monte Grappa. The trips are organized and managed directly by the alpine and nature guides operating in this area.

The Monte Grappa’s mountain chain looks like an amphitheatre, ideal to practice excursions and proper trekking, two-seater paragliding, canyoning.

Monte Grappa is a natural oasis and a true outdoor gym. The air currents that characterize the area provide limitless emotions to paragliding and hang gliding pilots in Veneto. The mountain’s rocky cliffs are a perfect climbing spot while its steep slopes serve as a challenging terrain for the two wheels lovers. Woods, pastures, mule tracks, the gentle slopes of the summit are an ideal location for a hiking surrounded by nature. Reaching the mountain top by foot, running, cycling, flying and enjoying the stunning panorama of the Veneto Plain provide a great satisfaction for all sports and nature lovers. In Winter, not far from Monte Grappa, you can ride long ski slopes and explore snowshoes paths. In Summer, the River Brenta becomes the perfect spot for river activities such as kayaking and rafting.