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160-635: The name by which the Veronese refer to the hills north of the city, Torricelle, is said to derive from the four Maximilian towers erected between 1837 and 1843 by Franz von Scholl, director of the Imperial Royal Office of Fortifications in Verona. The towers, which still exist, were built to enclose the complex hill defense system built by the Austrian Empire to the north: from there, artilleries could strike

320-427: A humid temperate one, sometimes tending to sub-Mediterranean climate allowing cultivation of olive trees, which extends from the foothills to about 700 m above sea level, a subsequent fresh temperate one between 700 m and 1 500 m, and finally a cold temperate one beyond 1 500 m. Average temperatures range between 5 °C and 13 °C with an average decrease of about 0.5 °C for every 100 m of altitude gained. The coldest month

480-406: A considerable spread of smuggling with the neighboring Tyrol , with which salt, tobacco, coffee, spices, sugar and alcohol were exchanged. Being a border territory, it was feared that Lessinia could be a theater of battles during World War I and thus it was fortified with trenches and military roads . The concerns, however, were not warranted and the plateau served only as a second line and as

640-484: A design by architect Paolo Rossi de Paoli on the centenary of the famous apparitions . The church was built by repurposing the former Austrian fort of San Leonardo, the forms of which are still clearly discernible in the circular plan of the worship building, one of the most iconic elements of the Torricelle hillside landscape. The fort, designed like the nearby Fort San Mattia in 1838 under the direction of Franz von Scholl,

800-420: A diploma of Otto II in 983 assigned some castles to it, while in 1027 Henry II granted it the ability to collect taxes. With the advent of the communal age , there was a repopulation of the area with Grezzana, elevated to a parish seat, being the most important center. Fiscally, the valley was organized into a colonate while jurisdictionally into a captaincy . This new political order had repercussions on

960-479: A lot of water and so she preferred to take the " lissia " to the place thus saving a lot of effort. One day the " pora " Maddalena went to the " Posso del Loo " to rinse her laundry and while she was intent on this work, a wolf came out of the woods and ate her. The Wolf ate only the right side of her body, not being able to touch the left side because her heart beats there. After this fact, the Municipality of Velo had

1120-514: A marble quarry. The discovery on site of some materials such as tin and copper has suggested that local people engaged in trade with other localities outside Italy as well. Many of the objects found are now in the Paleontological and Prehistoric Museum of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo and the Civic Museum of Natural History in Verona. Since before the beginning of Roman rule, which began between

1280-513: A monumental function: on the southwestern slope that looked toward the city a theater (still known as the Roman theater ) was built in the 1st century BC using the natural slope of the hill as a base for the cavea . A temple dedicated to Jupiter was also erected on the summit. On the remains of the pagan place of worship in Christian times a church dedicated to St. Peter was built, attested in sources from

1440-529: A more complex civilization one must wait for the Copper Age , which saw the presence of man on the hills of Marcellise , at Ponte di Veja, on Mount Loffa, at Molina, and at Colombare of Negrar , where a hearth was found, probably used for ritual purposes. It is from the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C., at the height of the Iron Age , that the phenomenon of castellieri , small settlements of huts located in

1600-562: A religious character that appeared almost everywhere in the Lessinian territory: small churches, capitals, steles, small chapels placed at crossroads, all of which are manifestations of the inhabitants' religious devotion that still adorn the landscape today. When Napoleon 's troops settled in Lessinia as a result of the Peace of Pressburg in 1805, great changes began in the administrative structure of

1760-506: A result the upper Lessinia took on the role of a strategically crucial area for sheep grazing. This situation led the ecclesiastical entities to cede, either by lease or by pure alienations, many of their Lessinia territories in favor of the wealthy city families engaged in the wool industry. This was affirmed with the seizure of power by the Della Scala seigniory , long involved in the wool trade, who little by little succeeded in controlling

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1920-425: A semicircle, fortified with dry-stone walls and placed on the top of the reliefs, is found in the area. Although only a few scattered traces of them remain in the surrounding area, some of them have been identified near Arbizzano (Negrar), Fumane , and Marano di Valpolicella . One of the best preserved, dating from the Iron Age , was found at Castel Sottosengia, near Breonio, which has now disappeared to make way for

2080-521: A series of narrow hairpin bends. The Valdonega district, which runs north of the street, occupies the area of the narrow valley between the San Leonardo and San Felice hills enclosed to the north by the Sommavalle, where the two hillsides rejoin. This area facing the city has been urbanized since the early twentieth century on the model of English garden cities , but it was inhabited from earlier times: this

2240-708: A significant population decline. When the power of the Scaligeris ended and after a brief interlude under the rule of the Visconti and the Carraresi , with the devotion of Verona to Venice in 1404 Lessinia also became a territory of the Serenissima and remained so until its fall, except for the period of the War of the League of Cambrai . The need to rely on loyal populations residing near

2400-435: A training ground for soldiers while war activities were concentrated on nearby Mount Pasubio. With the end of hostilities , Trentino became Italian and therefore Lessina ceased to be a border territory. The already exhausted populations that resided there saw their living conditions worsen even more, so much so that there was heavy emigration, not only abroad, but also to neighboring territories. World War II did not involve

2560-622: A youth hostel from 1980 to 2017. Near the church is also the Duke's Court, a fenced plot of land from medieval times cultivated as a vegetable garden by the Poor Clare nuns and now used as a public garden: the toponym is thought to be due to the fact that Alboin had built his palace there after the conquest of the city in 568 and the founding of the Duchy of Verona. To the east, the village of San Giovanni in Valle

2720-571: Is Bocca di Selva. In early 2012, as a result of natural dispersal, the encounter and stabilization of two wolves belonging to different populations occurred: a male named Slavc belonging to the Dinaric population in dispersal from Slovenia , monitored with a radio collar as part of the European project "Life SloWolf," and a female belonging to the Italian population. The presence of these two wolves in Lessinia

2880-448: Is January, with average lows often below -1 °C, while the hottest period is between July and August when highs reach between 22 °C and 29 °C. Relative humidity is between 50% and 70%. Average precipitation around 850 mm is recorded at the valley floor, which increases significantly in a northerly direction. The lowest rainfall coincides with the months of January and February, and the secondary rainfall between July and September, with

3040-712: Is also crossed by the Borago and Galina streams, which furrow their respective valleys north of the town to rejoin near Mount Spigolo in a single course. After crossing Avesa, the stream cuts through the Ponte Crencano neighborhood and flows into the Adige at the Ca' Rotta locality, not far from the Borgo Trento hospital. To the west, the Quinzano valley is also crossed by a stream that, after cutting

3200-576: Is characterized by low two and three-story cottages, some dating from the early postwar period. At the top of the Biondella hill stands Fort Biondella, built in 1838 by the Austrian Army Corps of Engineers to guard the plain east of Verona and the entrance to the Valpantena. It is possible to reach the fort and the top of the hill by two separate climbs: the first, Via Giovanni Francesco Caroto, goes up

3360-560: Is characterized by various species typical of the Mediterranean region. Two endemic species are also present: the Niphargus canui , a groundwater amphipod crustacean that has its habitat in the Quinzano quarry " Il Busetto ," and the Lathrobium pinkeri , an endogenous staphylinid beetle that lives in the Borago and Galina valleys. A modestly sized hill between Parona and Quinzano, dominated by

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3520-505: Is closed by Mount Castiglione (also attested as Costiglione), which continues the ridge of San Felice hill to the east and separates the Veronetta district to the southwest from Biondella and Borgo Venezia to the northeast. On the ridge of the hill, the extreme eastern offshoot of the Torricelle, runs the turreted city wall from the Scaligeri era that joins Porta Vescovo to Castel San Felice: in

3680-453: Is evidenced by the remains of a Roman villa dating back to the first century A.D. discovered in 1957 during the construction of an apartment building on Via Cesare Zoppi; the archaeological site is still visible. Although the neighborhood underwent intense urbanization after World War II, examples of small villas built there at the turn of the century still survive, as in the nearby Borgo Trento neighborhood. The hill, which encloses Valdonega to

3840-663: Is known for the church tower that marks the site of the former village of Alt Graun ("Old Graun"); it was evacuated and flooded in 1953 after the dam was finished. Near Glurns , the Rom River joins from the Swiss Val Müstair . The Adige runs eastward through the Vinschgau to Merano , where it is met by the Passer river from the north. The section between Merano and Bolzano is called Etschtal , meaning Adige Valley. South of Bolzano,

4000-489: Is of extraordinary scientific interest and it is the first case - after the disappearance of the wolf in the Alps - that a pair of the species was formed with individuals belonging to two different populations: the Dinaric and the Italian populations. The wolf was present in the Alps until the end of the 19th century and, more sporadically, in the first decades of the 20th century. In Veneto the last wolf sightings date back to 1931 in

4160-649: Is reached from the city. Lessinia Lessinia , or Lessini Mountains , is a plateau and alpine supergroup located mainly in the province of Verona and partially in the provinces of Vicenza and Trento . Part of the Lessinia territory constitutes the Lessinia Regional Nature Park . It is bordered to the north by the Ronchi Valley and the Carega Group , to the east by the Leogra Valley, to

4320-599: Is the second-longest river in Italy , after the Po . It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol , near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland , and flows 410 kilometres (250 mi) through most of northeastern Italy to the Adriatic Sea . The name of the river is of unknown origin. Nineteenth-century theories, such as a derivation from

4480-640: Is traversed by the Marano stream coming from Vajo Camporal and whose source is located at Mount Noroni. Further east, the 11-km-long Negrar di Valpolicella valley is traversed by the stream of the same name, which originates from the Fane stream and has as tributaries the Fiamene, Prun, Mazzano, San Ciriaco, Sieresol, Pozzetta, Quena and Cancello streams, among others. In the lowlands, the Negrar and Marano streams join and then flow into

4640-634: The Adige River . Near the city of Verona, the Quinzano stream and the Avesa stream reach the plains, both of which then flow into the Adige. East of Verona is the great Valpantena valley, oriented north-south and extending for about 26 km with a catchment area of 150 km², ending in the north with a bifurcation that divides the Alta Valpantena from the Vajo dell'Anguilla. The stream of Valpantena, after passing through

4800-503: The Belluno area (Fossa, 1988), while in Lessinia the species seems to have disappeared in the first half of the 1800s (Garbini, 1898) , with sporadic isolated presences recorded in 1880 (Benetti, 2003). The wolf in Lessinia is historically linked to the socio-cultural traditions of the Cimbrian population, as attested by toponyms, fables, legends, proverbs and idioms dedicated to this animal. In

4960-458: The Della Scala family , future lords of Verona , were the city exponents. In 1287, Bishop Bartolomeo della Scala allowed a group of settlers of German origin to settle in the area of present-day Roverè Veronese , forming the first nucleus of the Cimbrians of Lessinia . With the devotion of Verona to Venice in 1404, the plateau also came under the rule of the Serenissima , which proceeded to grant

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5120-641: The Proto-Celtic * yt-ese 'the water', and alleged to be cognate with the River Tees in England (anciently Athesis , Teesa ), have never been accepted by Celtic onomasts and are now completely obsolete. The river source is near the Reschen Pass (1,504 metres (4,934 ft)) close to the borders with Austria and Switzerland above the Inn Valley. It flows through the artificial alpine Lake Reschen . The lake

5280-472: The classical Latin dominicus , meaning "mountain and valley belonging to the lord." Given its proximity to the city center, on the western and southern slopes of the hill north of Via Mameli a number of small villas in eclectic style were built in the early twentieth century, reminiscent of those in the nearby Borgo Trento neighborhood: they are found mainly on Via Coni Zugna, slope Monte Grappa, Via Giovanni Vincenti, Via Giuseppe Sirtori, Via Gazzera, and at

5440-746: The monastery of Santa Maria in Organo and of Saints Nazaro and Celso . Toward the end of the early Middle Ages the territory appeared to be organized into parishes , of which the most important were those of Grezzana , San Floriano, San Martino in Negrar , Arbizzano and Montorio , Santa Maria in Tregnago, and San Giovanni in Loffa, the latter probably the oldest in western Lessinia. In the 10th century there were at least three sculdasci placed to oversee areas of particular strategic interest. A document dated May 7, 814 mentions

5600-499: The spotted redshank . Tourism related to nature and in particular birdwatching is also gradually developing in Lessinia, due to the presence of numerous alpine species such as the golden eagle , rock thrush or dipper . Recently, it is possible to see in winter a species that is uncommon in Italy, such as the snow bunting , which has brought many photographers and birdwatchers to Lessinia. The prime spot to observe this arctic passerine

5760-525: The "Arena di Avesa" for its peculiar amphitheater-like conformation accentuated by terracing with dry stone walls, Mount Mezzano (380 m), and Costa Grande (503 m). The reliefs are bordered to the east by the road to Montecchio. The ridge of Mounts Arzan (257 m) and Croson (334 m) encloses the Galina valley to the east and thus separates the northern part of the Avesa Valley from the Valpantena. During World War II,

5920-440: The 14th and 16th centuries the population of Lessinia grew steadily at the same time as additional activities, such as pastoralism and agriculture, in addition to traditional coal production and wood gathering, became established. Despite this, the population still lived in severe economic straits, so much so that corn was almost exclusively the only food available. As the population grew, new settlements began to be built. Abandoning

6080-557: The 16th century a cistern was also built under the castle to collect water, which still exists today. After the Treaty of Lunéville , which divided Verona in two, leaving the part to the right of the Adige River to France and the left bank including the hill to Austria, the French blew up the castle and the nearby church before retreating to the opposite bank. Between 1851 and 1856, on their remains

6240-435: The 19th century was not easy for the population of Lessinia: severe famines associated with unemployment led many people to emigrate abroad. The most widespread activities among the poor resident population were limited to livestock farming, cheese production and, in the central and eastern area, coal production; ice mining was also widespread and took place in the typical icehouses . The difficult living conditions also led to

6400-559: The 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., the territory of Lessinia was inhabited by various populations of Rhaetian origin. A separate mention should be made of the ancient inhabitants of Valpolicella , the Arusnates , whose Rhaetian or Etruscan origin is debated; this population enjoyed special administrative autonomy even after the arrival of the Romans by forming the Pagus Arusnatium . Two of

6560-453: The 5th century. It is thought that the Ostrogothic king Theodoric built his sumptuous palace there in the 6th century; given the strategic location, King Berengar also had a fortress erected there between the 9th and 10th centuries, on which Gian Galeazzo Visconti later built a real castle at the end of the 14th century, known as Castel San Pietro because of its proximity to the church. In

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6720-489: The Adige River and encloses the districts of Santo Stefano and Veronetta as well as the hills of San Felice and San Pietro. The Santo Stefano district is developed on the first slopes of the hills: it takes its name from the church built on the river bank around the 5th century as one of the first Christian places of worship in the city and rebuilt in Romanesque forms in the 12th century. The walls that enclose Santo Stefano to

6880-602: The Alpone torrent flows for about 32 km, which, originating at Mount Purga, ends its course in the Adige 7 km after passing through San Bonifacio . Finally, in the province of Vicenza , the Val del Chiampo extends for about 31 km entirely traversed by the Chiampo torrent, which also ends in the Adige after adding to its waters, originating at 1650 m above sea level, those of numerous streams. Climatically, Lessina can be divided into three belts:

7040-572: The Austrians as barracks, has housed Don Calabria 's Congregation of Poor Servants of Divine Providence since 1910. The building was restored in 1936 and now overlooks the cityscape east of downtown along with the church bell tower and the 19-meter-high bright iron cross erected there by the Congregation in 1934. From the district of San Giovanni in Valle climbs toward the Don Calabria Institute

7200-423: The Austrians built a massive Rundbogen -style infantry barracks designed by Conrad Petrasch. The monumental building visible from all over the city became for the Veronese the new Castel San Pietro: it still overlooks the hill today. The ruins of the castle that still subsisted to the north of the building were integrated into the new complex and were reused as a fortified enclosure: a large portion of what remains of

7360-467: The Avesa valley, Valdonega and the entire city, crossing fire with the nearby Maximilian towers. The fort, visible from the center of Verona due to its location, takes its name from the nearby late medieval church of San Mattia (240 m above sea level), remodeled in neoclassical forms in the 19th century. The fort and the church can be reached along Viale dei Colli, a road that starts at the end of Valdonega west of Via Marsala. Several villas are also located on

7520-402: The Avesa valley, is on the right side of Via Santa Giuliana (coming from San Mattia) and is now occupied by various antennas and repeaters; the third tower (301 m) is located further north at the junction of Via Torricelle and Via Bonuzzo Sant'Anna; the fourth tower (312 m) is the northernmost and can be seen to the right as one continues north on Via Bonuzzo Sant'Anna. The second tower is opposite

7680-476: The Borago and Galina valleys into which the Avesa valley divides to the north, and overlooks the confluence of the streams of the same name that flow through the two narrow valleys. In a northerly direction, the mountain develops with increasingly higher peaks as far as the village of Montecchio (hamlet of Negrar): from south to north, one encounters Mount Tondo (347 m), Mount della Cola (385 m), known for its karst doline with an elliptical horizontal section known as

7840-400: The Borago stream to the west: in this section it is named Monte Cossa (385 m), Monte Tosato (436 m) and Maso (546 m); the latter relief marks the border with the municipality of Negrar . The hill is traversed by several paths that start from via Volte Maso in the Quinzano valley, and from via Monte Ongarine and the Borago road in the Avesa valley. The hill (288 m) serves as a watershed between

8000-583: The Carega group to the northeast (which exceeds 2,200 m). In contrast, the central range is between 1000 and 1300 m. Some of the peaks include: Corno d'Aquilio, Monte Tomba, Cima Trappola. The landscape of the High Pastures of Lessinia has been officially recognized as an agrarian landscape and included in the National Register of Historic Rural Landscapes, prepared by Decree No. 17070 of November 19, 2012, of

8160-695: The Colle San Leonardo with the sanctuary of the Madonna of Lourdes, the Valdonega, the Colle San Felice and that of San Pietro (also known as Monte Gallo), where the first inhabitants of Verona settled, the valley of San Giovanni in Valle which houses the Romanesque church of the same name , and Monte Castiglione which separates the Veronetta district from the Biondella district and from the Valpantena, which closes

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8320-413: The Cà Verde area was an exception. Among the fauna of the time could be found cave bears , wolves , hyenas and various steppe rodents. Studies have suggested that in the Upper Paleolithic the populations settled in lower Lessinia lagged behind in terms of civilization compared to more general models. The artistic testimonies and complex artifacts dating from this period are scarce. To find signs of

8480-430: The Della Scala family as feudal lords. On February 5, 1287, while Alberto della Scala was lord of Verona , Bishop Bartolomeo della Scala granted a group of settlers of German origin who had settled in the Vicentine plateau to settle in Lessinia in the area of today's Roverè Veronese and conferred on their two leaders, Olderico Vicentino and Olderico da Altissimo, the office of episcopal gastalds. This constituted

8640-417: The Dolomite locality of the same name, since it is instead a hamlet of San Pietro in Cariano (VR). Again Barbarossa the following year gave comital rights over land and villas in the area to Count Sauro of the Sambonifacio family. However, administratively Valpolicella had no recognition until the communal age when a "colonel" was established with partial autonomy, having to accept a captain from Verona when

8800-455: The Hermitage of San Rocchetto, the Quinzano valley, Mount Villa, and Mount Ongarine, which separate the Quinzano valley from the Avesa valley, the Avesa valley traversed by various streams including the Borago and Lorì (which upstream divides into the Borago and Galina valleys, separated by Mt. Spigolo), Mt. Arzan dividing the Galina valley from the Valpantena, the hill of Santa Giuliana and Monte Calvo dominated by Fort San Mattia, and further south

8960-471: The Iron Fountain. The waters of the natural spring that closes the valley to the north were piped to the well in Cisterna Square, a few steps from the church, built in the 15th century and in use until the 19th century. On one of the two slopes leading up to the fountain is the 16th-century Villa Francescatti, built at the foot of San Pietro Hill. Attached to the villa is an Italian garden of about 5,000 square meters built on several terraces. The building housed

9120-436: The Lessinian hill territory where secondary routes were built that joined them. At that time Lessinia, part of the Veronese countryside, was almost entirely occupied by forests for the lower part ( Frizzolana and Selva veronensis ) while the plains higher up ( Lessinium ) were used for summer grazing. In addition to grazing activities, in Lessinia the gathering of herbs, berries, mushrooms, firewood and timber for construction

9280-399: The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies. The phenomenon of karstification typical of the limestone rocks that form Lessinia has made its hydrographic network highly articulated and varied, characterized by a great ramification of streams that during the glacial and quaternary periods have contributed to carve out the stream valleys that make up the territory. Throughout

9440-455: The Monte Arzan road that starts north of Avesa, from Via Bonuzzo Sant'Anna that runs along the ridge between the two valleys for those coming from the city, or from Via Ronchi for those coming from Quinto di Valpantena. In a southerly direction, the hilly belt continues until it enters the historic core of the city with the Santa Giuliana ridge, Mount Calvo, and finally the hills of San Leonardo, San Felice, San Pietro, and Mount Castiglione that lap

9600-430: The New Bridge. Also known as Mount Gallo, it is the area where the founding nucleus of the city was settled in the Bronze Age . About 3,000 years ago, the first inhabitants built a small hill village in this strategic area from which they overlooked the course of the Adige River and the plain. According to one hypothesis, the very name of the city of Verona derives from the term " verone ," or panoramic balcony from which it

9760-497: The Quinzano and Avesa valleys to the south. It derives its name from the district of the same name, once a hamlet of the autonomous municipality of Quinzano and now incorporated into the district of Ponte Crencano. Traces of a residential settlement dating back to the 1st century BC have been found in the settlement. The hill is dominated by the distinctive architecture of the 16th-century Villa Rizzoni known as "el Castel" for its late 19th-century neo-medieval restoration. The building and

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9920-431: The Quinzano valley to the west is overlooked by the hermitage of San Rocchetto, a small Romanesque-style church reached by an 18th-century staircase. The hill was attributed a religious connotation even in pre-Christian times: in the Bronze Age there was a hillfort on its summit, a place from which perhaps the sun and stars were divined. In medieval times, its peculiar shape led people to liken it to Mount Calvario, from which

10080-404: The San Pietro hill and to the east is Mount Castiglione. To the east, the Santo Stefano district is enclosed by the San Pietro hill, the eastern continuation of the ridge that runs from Mount Arzan and divides at the Sommavalle fountain to the bend in the Adige River. The hill of modest height overlooks the city and is clearly visible in the stretch of the Lungadige between the Garibaldi Bridge and

10240-458: The Santa Giuliana Psychiatric Hospital, which bears the name of a small church built here in 1281 and destroyed in 1872. Between the first and second towers, the ridge divides into two smaller ridges at the height of the Sommavalle fountain, an ancient spring that gushes from a rock ridge. The place-name is because the spring is located at the extreme northern apex of the valley known as Valdonega, squeezed between two minor ridges that penetrate into

10400-427: The Santa Toscana washer which now houses a public park, descends rapidly down the last hillsides to connect with Porta Vescovo and continue into the plain. To the northeast of Mount Castiglione, the residential neighborhood of Biondella has developed since the early twentieth century, now integrated into the larger context of Borgo Venezia. The neighborhood creeps up the hillsides in two distinct depressions separated by

10560-493: The Scala Santa, a cobblestone-paved staircase with the Stations of the Cross inserted on either side. Slightly further south, on the western slopes of the hill is the Giusti Garden, a late Renaissance Italian garden built on the back of the 16th-century Giusti del Giardino palace . The park climbs the hill on several terraces planted with box, cypress and citrus trees, and embellished with labyrinths, fountains, mythological statues, stairways and artificial grottoes. The cliff of

10720-408: The Torricelle area to the east. The proximity of these valleys and hills to the city of Verona fostered their anthropization to the point where they became an integral part of the urban landscape, especially after the annexation of several autonomous municipalities in the hillside metropolitan belt (including Parona, Quinzano, and Avesa) to the City of Verona in 1927. From a geological point of view,

10880-447: The Torricelle consists of limestone rocks whose date ranges from the Middle Eocene to the Upper Eocene. Like the nearby Lessini, this is a once submerged area whose emersion occurred between the Oligocene and lower Miocene . Paleokarst phenomena are present in the area, evident in the numerous cavities, caves , sinkholes , and underground tunnels, some inhabited since prehistoric times, and by streams flowing from karst springs . In

11040-400: The Torricelle hills are a destination for hikers. Among the various trails that cross the hills are the Dorsale Giuliani from Parona to Poiano, the Transtoresela from the Eremo di San Rocchetto to Poiano, and the intineraries that go up the valleys of Avesa and Quinzano. Since 1973, the " 4 passi di primavera " running event has been held on the Torricelle, during which the village of Montecchio

11200-434: The Valpantena, Valdonega and the Avesa valley. The four round towers stand on the Santa Giuliana ridge and were at that time visible from the city, the vegetation being less dense, so much so that the Veronese called the entire hillside area by this name. As difficult as it is to define a clear boundary between the hills north of Verona and the broader complex of the Lessini Mountains , the term Torricelle generally designates

11360-484: The Venetian era, the washers of Santa Toscana and San Zeno in Monte were built there. The walls with their characteristic turrets overlooking Veronetta can be reached from Salita Santo Sepolcro and via San Zeno in Monte, which run on the inner side, or from various footpaths adjacent to via Giovanni Francesco Caroto on the outer side. On the western slope of the hill behind the walls stands the 15th-century Romanesque church of San Zeno in Monte. The adjoining convent, used by

11520-479: The Villa Caperle Arrighini Gerard, while preserving the bell tower and forms of the ancient religious building, visible on the side of Viale dei Colli at the intersection with Via San Leonardo and, downstream, from Lungadige Catena. Monte Donico (or mons Donicus ) was the name that identified San Leonardo hill in ancient times: as with the nearby Valdonega (or Valdonica), donicus is a contraction of

11680-455: The Visconti fortress can be seen on Via Castel San Pietro in the section leading to the forecourt in front of the barracks. From this clearing there is one of the best-known and most photographed views of the entire city. Over the centuries, the Roman theater had been covered by a network of dense dwellings: it was only around 1830 that the wealthy merchant Andrea Monga purchased the area and had

11840-503: The XVI Ottobre staircase, which climbs from a side street of Via San Nazaro; it can also be reached from the north by crossing a breach in the walls between Via Caroto and Salita Santo Sepolcro. The toponym of the staircase hands down the original name of the residential complex, baptized Quartiere XVI Ottobre to commemorate the date of Verona's unification to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Near

12000-475: The archaeological museum since 1923. The apex of the hill, which corresponds to the square of Castel San Pietro, can be reached via two stairways that start at its foot, the first at the height of Ponte Pietra and the second in Botte alley (from which the theater is also accessed), or by the panoramic funicular built in 1941 and restored in 2017. The structure starts from a side street of Via Madonna del Terraglio on

12160-463: The area's mild climate, sheltered from cold northern currents by the crown of the Lessini Mountains, has favored the cultivation of olives , vines , almond and cherry trees over the centuries. Typical of the man-made landscape are the terraces with dry stone walls spread on the hillsides, built over the centuries by man to facilitate cultivation (locally called marogne ). In wooded areas,

12320-561: The area: the borders changed several times and the bureaucratic apparatus went through simplifications. The presence of troops in the Lessinian villages was numerous and often frowned upon by the population. With the intention of learning more about the people who lived there, the French conducted two censuses and studied the spread of the Cimbrian language , ascertaining that it was still spoken in Selva di Progno , Campofontana and Giazza . In addition,

12480-496: The beginning of Via San Leonardo. The latter, which runs along the western slope of the hill as far as the church of San Leonardo and then San Mattia (in the latter section it takes the name Via San Mattia) is actually an Austrian " lasagna ," one of the many military roads carved out of live tuff by the Habsburg army. These characteristic narrow streets, paved with cobblestones or stones and protected by high walls, allowed troops to reach

12640-533: The borders led the Venetian Republic to confirm and expand rights and privileges already granted to the inhabitants of this territory. For example, the inhabitants of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo were allowed to carry out grazing and wood-gathering activities as long as they ensured armed control of the paths that led toward the border with the bishopric of Trent . To benefit the area, moreover, the Serenissima promoted

12800-575: The built-up area of Borgo Venezia, flows into the Adige west of San Michele Extra. Further east, from Cima Trappola originates the Vajo Squaranto, which joins the Vajo Illasi after receiving several tributaries including the Fibbio and Marcellise streams, at San Martino Buon Albergo and then terminates in the Adige before Belfiore . The Val d'Illasi, with its 22 km, bisects the Lessinia plateau going all

12960-596: The burning of the temple of Minerva that stood in Marano (where the sanctuary of Santa Maria di Valverde stands today) is evidence of that process. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire there was a decrease in population in Lessinia and in the economic activities that took place there. In Lombard times many plots of Lessinia were given as a feudal benefit to the Arimannia , free men who were able to bear arms. With

13120-472: The city of Verona: the first to the west with Mount Calvo and San Leonardo Hill, the second to the east with the hills of San Felice, San Pietro, Castiglione and Biondella. On top of the hill (220 m) stands Fort San Mattia, also built by the Austrian army between 1837 and 1843 to a design by Michael von Maly, a student of military architect Franz von Scholl. The fort's strategic location allowed it to look out over

13280-506: The city wall. Along Via Castel San Felice, a hairpin bend at an altitude of 170 meters leads to the Colombare Park, which covers about 32,000 square meters on the western slope of the hill outside the walls and offers various views of the city. From the top of the hill near the castle, the hill cordon divides into two distinct ridges that enclose the valley of San Giovanni in Valle: to the west is

13440-409: The city's religious institutions by effectively taking possession of their mountain funds. These were the years in which the so-called Potesteria Lissinorum came into being, which would find full development in the subsequent Venetian era , that is, the temporary jurisdiction over the population residing in the high-altitude pastures by, formally, the monastery of San Zeno, but in practice entrusted to

13600-540: The city, went there to administer his funds. Remains of some of them have been found in Negrar, Romagnano, Azzago, and Colognola ai Colli . From the Valpantena and Valpolicella departed the aqueducts that supplied the city of Verona. A hypogeum from the late imperial period has been found at Santa Maria in Stelle. Beginning in the 4th century the Christianization of the people living in Lessinia began to take place;

13760-404: The city. At the base of the mountain are several quarries, called " i busi ," from which Avesa stone, tuff used as a building material in the city, was extracted until the mid-20th century. Apparently, the mountain's name comes from " longarine ," a term that would refer to the beams and columns made from the stone quarried there. Further north, the ridge of the mountain closes the narrow valley of

13920-462: The construction of a road, known as " della Selve Lessinee ," that crossed the territory of the vicariate of Valpantena to head toward Lugo, Belloro and Lughezzano. The oldest cartographic depiction of Lessinia appears in a map from 1440, called the Almagià map, where a large part of the Veronese territory is drawn. In that document it is easy to recognize, among other settlements, Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo with

14080-604: The earliest times; the ease with which flint could be found for the production of objects, the availability of many caves and rock shelters, and other economic and security-related reasons were the factors that led various prehistoric communities to settle there. The earliest evidence dates back to the Lower Paleolithic and demonstrates human presence in several localities, including Riparo Soman, Ponte di Veja, Villa (Quinzano), Cà Verde ( Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella ), and Fumane Cave . Also in Quinzano, numerous remains from

14240-635: The early years of the next century they came to colonize, with the assent of Cangrande della Scala , the Frizzolana at the expense of the canons of the cathedral. In 1375 they founded at the parish of Valdiporro and later that of Erbezzo , eventually settling also in San Mauro di Saline , Velo Veronese , Camposilvano, and Selva di Progno . Their rapid expansion was slowed only by the Black Death , which struck all of Europe without sparing Lessinia, which suffered

14400-412: The east, is the natural continuation of the cordon that descends from Sommavalle and divides the city from Valpantena. It derives its name from the fortified citadel erected in Visconti times (between 1390 and 1409) at the northernmost point of the Scaligeri magistral wall. To build the fortress, the church of San Felice and the adjoining monastery, attested at this location since 938, were demolished, hence

14560-568: The elevation of Biondella Hill, developing on the road axes of Via Alessandro Volta to the south (which connects to Veronetta via the tunnel under the San Zeno in Monte washer) and Via Biondella to the north, which climbs the eastern slope to join Via Castellana. The latter street skirts the hill ridge on the Valpantena side to the hamlet of Poiano. The neighborhood, urbanized in the early twentieth century,

14720-577: The end of the Lombard reign and the advent of the Carolingian age they became mere gastalds , that is, civil officials delegated to oversee the lands of the new feudal lords, who were mostly ecclesiastical bodies from the abbey of St. Columbanus of Bobbio and the court of the Priory of the monastery of St. Columbanus of Bardolino and Verona, and in particular the cathedral chapter , the monastery of San Zeno ,

14880-493: The entire Lessinia , the reliefs are interspersed with narrow valleys, called vaj , crossed by streams, called " progni ," that flow into the Adige River after crossing the city: their course is often silted up in the more densely urbanized neighborhoods. Proceeding from west to east after the built-up area of Parona (a hamlet of Verona formerly included in Valpolicella), one encounters the hill of San Dionigi, Mount Cavro with

15040-428: The entrenched hill field to the north. Given the sparse vegetation, the towers in the 19th century were visible to the naked eye from the city. They still stand, a short distance apart, on either side of Torricelle Street, Santa Giuliana Street, and Bonuzzo Sant'Anna Street. The first tower (269 m) overlooks the Valpantena to the left of Via Torricelle for those coming from Verona; the second tower (280 m), erected to guard

15200-535: The esplanades higher up were used for summer grazing. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the territory went through a noticeable demographic decline, which was not interrupted until the early 11th century. From the Carolingian age , until the advent of the communal age , much of Lessinia was under the control of the Veronese Church, a dominion that went into crisis with the rise of the wool merchants of which

15360-563: The exclusion of August when intense convective activity results in increased rainfall. The highest rainfall occurs in the months of October and November, while there is a secondary highest one between April and June. Snow , which is more frequent in the central and eastern zone, occurs in the winter months between December and mid-February, not exceeding 80 centimeters on average. Climate tables for Velo Veronese (at 1 074 m a.s.l.) and Grezzana (at 267 m a.s.l.) are given as examples: The dominant winds blow from west to east while those from

15520-451: The first nucleus of the Cimbrians of Lessinia . The reason that prompted the bishop to call this population was purely economic in nature, namely the need for labor for the production of charcoal and lumber at lower costs than that which was imported from Trent. Several benefits were granted to this early community, such as exemption from military service, payment of taxes and the right to choose their own parish priest ( jus patronatus ). In

15680-415: The first secular public schools were founded. These reforms continued with the subsequent Austrian rule that lasted between 1814 and 1866 when there was the annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy . During this period there was also the establishment of a free medical service designed mainly to contain any epidemics, of which pellagra , smallpox , and cholera were typical, claiming victims among

15840-440: The growth of the industrial and service sectors in the valley caused some of the typical activities of the mountains to disappear so much so that the many residents ended up moving to the city, abandoning the ancient districts that ended up being completely uninhabited. In contrast to this, beginning in the 1960s and in the larger towns, new residences began to be built that were used by citizens as second homes for vacationing and, at

16000-599: The hamlet and then develops its course only partially on the surface until it crosses underground the districts of Ponte Crencano and Borgo Trento and flows into the Adige near the Garibaldi Bridge. In Roman times, the waters of the Lorì were conveyed to the heart of the city through an aqueduct that crossed the Adige and continued to the Roman forum (today's Piazza Erbe ). The Avesa valley

16160-450: The hamlet in two, reaches the city near the locality Ca' di Cozzi and flows into the Adige at the height of Via Saval, just before the bridge of the same name. A greater flow of water is found at the bottom of the valley where numerous water veils flow, including those of San Dionigi, Sommavalle, Valdonega, Fontana del Ferro, Castel San Pietro, the Roman theater , and San Giovanni in Valle . As with neighboring Valpolicella and Valpantena,

16320-522: The hill, including the 18th-century Villa Fontana Ederle, known as " La Cipressaia ," and Villa Bottico. The hill, a natural continuation of the San Mattia ridge, lies between the extreme valley floor of Avesa to the west (occupied today by the Pindemonte neighborhood) and the Valdonega neighborhood to the east. On the highest peak (170 m) rises the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, built between 1958 and 1964 to

16480-495: The hill, on the other hand, is kept as an evergreen forest: from there one reaches a belvedere balcony above a mascaron and a covered pavilion from which there is a view of the entire city. A little to the south of the garden, the hill is crossed by a tunnel opened just below the San Zeno in Monte washer in the 1960s: it connects Via Nazario Sauro, in Veronetta, with Via Alessandro Volta in Borgo Venezia. A short distance away, on

16640-459: The hills, of which only a few traces remain now scattered throughout the territory, dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Before the arrival of the Romans , which occurred between the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., the area was inhabited by various peoples of Rhaetian origin, including the Arusnates . At that time the plateau was almost entirely occupied by forests for the lower part, while

16800-400: The hilly area located entirely within the municipal territory of Verona between Valpolicella to the west and Valpantena to the east, and more specifically the reliefs between the built-up area of Parona and the Borgo Venezia district. The area is divided into several cordons of hills that, starting from Monte Comun near Montecchio , fan out in a north-south direction towards the plain. As with

16960-529: The houses, even after necessary renovations, have often been maintained with stone, with the ever-present fireplace inside and massive wooden beams to support the upper floors. Stone was, in addition, used for boundary walls, wash houses, and when carved it was transformed into crosses and religious shrines often depicting the Passion of Christ or the Virgin Mary . Also widespread were the icehouses . Now abandoned,

17120-438: The hovels demolished at his own expense to begin excavations that would unearth the ancient theater, which is still used today for live performances. On the steps remains the small Gothic church of Saints Siro and Libera, which survived nineteenth-century demolitions and is accessed by a Baroque-era staircase. Between the theater and the barracks rises the mighty fifteenth-century bulk of the convent of San Girolamo, which has housed

17280-399: The inhabitants various privileges in exchange for guarding the northern border. The arrival of Napoleon brought about major changes in the administrative structure of the area, some of which were maintained by subsequent Austrian rule. The years following the annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy were very hard on the population, which experienced famine and epidemics. Spared from

17440-462: The later Riss-Würm interglacial period have been found, such as spearheads, axes, sickles, and fragments of human skull bones. Other Middle Paleolithic settlements have been found on the Torricelle , Monte Cucco, Monte Loffa and at Azzago. The findings, however, suggest that these were not true stable human settlements, as it turns out that they practiced a nomadic life, although it is assumed that

17600-441: The left bank of the Adige River . In a southerly direction, the ridge between the Avesa valley and Valpantena takes the name Torricelle at the height of the hamlets of Avesa and Poiano. This is the original nucleus that later gave its name to the larger hill system north of the city of Verona. The place-name derives from the presence in this area of the four Maximilian towers built by the Austrian army between 1837 and 1843 to defend

17760-423: The localities of Cona and Cerna, both with their respective churches, and the area of Selva surrounded by woods; Bosco Chiesanuova appears with many buildings and a church; Valdiporro also has a church and several districts appear nearby; as well as the territories of Saline, Tavernole, Alcenago, Lugo, Azzago, and Romagnano. Due to the privileges granted by the Serenissima and the period of relative peace, between

17920-400: The locality " Riserva di Buse di Sopra " (Municipality of Velo Veronese ) there is a stele bearing the following inscription: 1657 - CO - VELO - P - IL - CAS0 - FORD0 - DI - MADA - DE - LA - VALLE - 1655 . Near this is a well and a watering hole for watering grazing cattle, called the " Posso del Loo " and the " Possa del Loo ," respectively. About the erection of this stele and the naming of

18080-514: The malnourished population. Following the Third War of Independence , Lessinia was annexed by Italy and again became a borderland with the Austrian Empire . Therefore, numerous military defensive buildings were built, such as Fort Masua on Mount Pastello , Fort San Briccio, Fort Santa Viola above Azzago, and Fort Monte Tesoro. The network of carriage roads was also strengthened. The second half of

18240-406: The median belt, there are cores of igneous rocks : a basaltic seam crosses the Borago valley north of Avesa. The valley area around Avesa has been affected in the past by intense mining of materials used in construction, such as Avesa Stone and Gallina Stone, the latter characterized by fossil deposits such as the better-known Veronese ammonitic red . Quarries, now abandoned, can still be seen on

18400-481: The medieval chapel of the same name flanked by the 19th-century villa Erbisti Rossi Chiampan, built in neoclassical forms in 1834 and surrounded by a 20th-century park with an artificial lake fed by springs in the area. The top of the hill can be reached from the Monti road, a side street of Via Preare, the provincial road leading from Verona to Parona. The hill that overlooks the suburbs of Ca' di Cozzi and Saval and encloses

18560-469: The modern "grotto" with the statue of Our Lady stands, there is a view of the plain from the city center to the suburbs and the surrounding countryside. On a lesser peak of the hill (108 m), further south, stands Fort Sofia, also visible from the area of Ponte Pietra and Lungadige San Giorgio. The fort was also built in 1838 to a design by von Scholl to garrison the Campagnola area (today's Borgo Trento) and

18720-404: The most common tree species are ash , downy oak and hornbeam . In wetter areas, however, European hornbeam and chestnut are encountered. There are also various coniferous species planted in more recent times (1950s) to curb erosion on hillsides with sparse vegetation: black pine , cypress , Aleppo pine , Atlas cedar , and stone pine . Vertebrate fauna includes: The invertebrate fauna

18880-566: The most important Roman roads converged on Verona's territory, the Via Claudia Augusta , which connected northern Europe to the Po Valley , and the Via Postumia , which, starting from Liguria , extended to the empire 's easternmost borders. The passage of these fundamental routes, which joined in the city of Verona, made the area strategically very important. Their presence also influenced

19040-421: The most mountainous part, above 800 m above sea level. In these contexts, the use of stone by taking advantage of the great availability of such material through quarries, compared to the more scarce availability of construction timber, has given rise to a peculiar feature. The dry-stone walls and the roofs of the houses are composed of stone slabs, reflecting the type of construction of the many huts. The floors of

19200-473: The most substantial. Below is a list of the main watercourses present in Lessinia starting from the west and going eastward. At Fumane transits the progno of the same name (a term in Veronese dialect for a stream), which after originating from Mount San Giovanni and Mount Loffa travels about 14 km of the Progni valley receiving water from numerous tributaries. The Marano di Valpolicella valley, just 7 km long,

19360-480: The most well-known and well maintained is that of Grietz, circular in shape, on the road connecting Bosco Chiesanuova with San Giorgio. Adige The Adige ( Italian: [ˈaːdidʒe] ; German : Etsch [ɛtʃ] ; Venetian : Àdexe [ˈadeze] ; Romansh : Adisch [ɐˈdiːʃ] ; Ladin : Adesc ; Latin : Athesis ; Ancient Greek : Ἄθεσις , romanized :  Áthesis , or Ἄταγις , Átagis )

19520-573: The mountain's quarries housed a powder magazine blown up by the Germans on the morning of April 26, 1945 before fleeing the city. The victims of the explosion were contained (8 people) due to the intervention of the curate of Avesa, Don Giuseppe Graziani, who obtained permission from the German Command to empty the powder magazine until dawn, an undertaking in which several inhabitants of the hill town participated. The summit of Mount Arzan can be reached from

19680-427: The municipality of Verona, which disposed several laws for the collection of wood to prevent impoverishment; and Lessinio, the high-altitude pastures largely owned by secular landowners or monasteries and where wool was produced, a key element in the Verona economy at that time. During the thirteenth century in Verona the art of wool came to be established as one of the most important city economic institutions, and as

19840-413: The name of the citadel and the hill. The castle was remodeled by the Austrians in the 19th century and now lies in a state of neglect. The apex of the hill where the remains of the castle are visible can be reached from Via Giovanni Francesco Caroto and Via Castellana for those coming from Borgo Venezia, and from Via Castel San Felice for those coming from Valdonega. Both streets run along the outer side of

20000-456: The need arose. In 1311 with Federico della Scala, the county of Valpolicella was born, which would enjoy greater freedom and various tax breaks, prerogatives it would retain for several centuries even after the end of Scaliger rule. The territory of Valpantena belonged largely to the canons of the cathedral. Through the 921 will of the bishop of Verona Nokterio one learns that in Marzana there

20160-547: The neighborhood there is also a park from which the Veronetta area and Porta Vescovo are overlooked. Past the neighborhood, Mount Castiglione slopes down into the valley. The area inside the walls is occupied by the Santa Toscana district, which is built around the church of the same name erected on the slopes of the hill on the pre-existing remains of a small church dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre. The city wall, closed by

20320-562: The north and separate it from the Valdonega were remodeled in Venetian and Austrian times: between 1522 and 1525 the Rondella di San Giorgio was built at the gate of the same name and the Rondella delle Boccare was built. From the San Giorgio gate, Via Ippolito Nievo climbs the hills, bordering the outer side of the walls and leading to Via Castel San Felice, which climbs the hill of the same name with

20480-584: The north are largely stopped by the major elevations. There are a number of minor currents and breezes that go from low to high, resulting in condensation and cloud formation in the higher areas. Lessinia has a medium level of seismicity . However, the seismic phenomena that are encountered are not attributable to volcanic causes but rather to the northward advance of the Apennine chain , which results in compression and dislocation of crustal rock masses. Therefore, these are superficial interplate earthquakes affecting

20640-606: The north by the deep and wild Val di Ronchi and the majestic Carega Group , bounded on the east by the Val Leogra, on the southeast by the hills of Monteviale , on the southwest by the course of the Adige and the upper Veronese plain, and on the west by the Val Lagarina , it is almost a unit in itself within the Venetian Prealps . It is furrowed by numerous valleys that descend from the high pastures and fan out toward Verona and

20800-406: The old wooden dwellings, the inhabitants of Lessinia began to use red Verona marble , which was readily available locally and which was processed into regular slabs and was successfully exploited. Buildings dedicated to various activities were also constructed, such as baiti and caseare for milk processing, icehouses and kilns to obtain quicklime . Worthy of mention are the numerous buildings of

20960-516: The plain. Proceeding from west to east are the valleys of Fumane , Marano and Negrar (which together constitute a unit that has more historical than geographical character: the Valpolicella ) and then the Valpantena, Squaranto, Mezzane, d'Illasi, Tramigna, d'Alpone, Chiampo and Agno valleys. Its heights to the west fall within the Venetian Pre-Alps, with peaks between 1,500 and 1,800 m, and

21120-511: The plaque made to remind passersby to say a "requiem for that poor woman." The belief, still widespread in the Camposilvano area, that wolves could not feed on the left side of the human body, certainly arose from this case." The presence of wolves in Lessinia is still controversial today, as it often divides city public opinion between those who view this presence positively and in favor of the proper maintenance of biodiversity, and those who see

21280-520: The plateau any further, which, however, was occupied by the Wehrmacht after 1943. The most significant event was a fire set by German soldiers in the upper Alpone valley in retaliation for an action carried out by partisans against the occupying troops. When the war ended, the subsequent economic miracle that swept Italy was not enough to put a stop to the depopulation of the higher and more remote areas of Lessinia. The introduction of new technologies and

21440-628: The plateau there are a number of springs , both temporary ones related to snow melt and rainfall, and permanent ones, which flow mainly at the outlet of the valleys between the upper and lower plains. The most notable ones are found on the Trentino side in the Ronchi valley, about 11 km long and crossed by the Ala stream, and in Val Bona, while on the other sides those in Val di Illasi and between Velo and Val di Mazzano are

21600-475: The presence of wolves as a major problem because of the large predation on farm animals. In Lessinia, 11 city councils voted unanimously in 2014 on municipal resolutions calling for the total relocation of the predator to other areas and the abandonment of the Life Wolfalps project. Of particular interest are the small villages, surrounded by their dozens of contrade, comprising from two up to fifty dwellings, in

21760-533: The present toponym would derive, and to erect three crosses on the summit. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, pilgrims from the Holy Land carved out of the rock a small chapel called the Holy Sepulcher on which the present church was later built in the 15th century. At the foot of the hill, on the other hand, stands the church of St. Roch, also erected in the late 15th century. The small elevation (142 m) separates

21920-611: The river is joined by the Eisack and turns south through a valley which has always been one of the major routes through the Alps, connecting the Reschen and the Brenner passes, at 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) considered the easiest of the main Alpine passes. The Chiusa di Salorno narrows at Salorno and marks the southernmost part of the predominantly German-speaking province of South Tyrol. The Adige

22080-497: The rocky belt located between 20 and 25 km deep. The Illasi valley, which is characterized by a system of faults extending in a north and south direction, is the one at greatest risk and which recorded several telluric events in the late 19th century, most notably the earthquake of June 7, 1891. Likewise, the piedmont portion immediately north of the city of Verona has been the subject of numerous earthquakes throughout history. The Lessinia territory appears to have been inhabited since

22240-457: The same time, the phenomenon of highland tourism was born. In Lessinia, 170 species have been observed from 2006 to 2012, ranging from the most common ones such as various turdids, finches and titmice, to those more usual in the alpine environment such as capercaillie , black grouse , golden eagle , wallcreeper and dipper , and the more atypical ones such as black stork , black-winged stilt , cormorant , grey heron , egret , garganey or

22400-510: The sides of the Ongarine and Arzan mountains. The hills also yielded the so-called "yellow earth" of Verona, an ochre used for frescoes in the Renaissance period . The Torricelle area has karst phenomena with surface streams of limited flow and intense subsurface water circulation. In the Avesa Valley, a foothill karst spring is the Lorì, a small watercourse that originates from resurgences near

22560-404: The slopes of the hill and covers a 55-meter drop. San Pietro hill separates Santo Stefano from the small valley of San Giovanni in Valle where the very ancient Romanesque church of the same name , attested since the 7th century, is located. The district, included in the city walls and integrated into the larger Veronetta district, spreads on the slopes of the hill to the east and climbs them up to

22720-466: The south by the course of the Adige River and the upper Veronese plain, and to the west by the Lagarina Valley . Its peaks reach an altitude between 1,500 and 1,800 m above sea level. From the earliest times Lessinia saw the presence of man, who could easily find flint there and take refuge in its many caves and shelters. The spread of castellieri , small fortified settlements placed on the top of

22880-537: The southern slope to the right of Via Alessandro Volta; the second is found by continuing on Via Biondella to the intersection with the same Via Caroto. North of Biondella, the eastern slope of the Torricelle continues its course northward and closes the Valpantena to the west until it joins the Lessini Mountains near Grezzana . Given the scenic beauty, the proximity to the city, and the historical stratifications left behind by thousands of years of human settlement,

23040-555: The southern slopes of the hill stands the church of Saints Nazaro and Celso , built on another place of worship carved into the rock, the three compartments of which hollowed out in the hill still remain. On the ridge of the hill above the church close to the walls rises the residential neighborhood of Alto San Nazaro, built in 1887 as a working-class neighborhood by the Società Anonima Cooperativa Edificatrice di Case Operaie. The neighborhood can be reached from

23200-532: The term "Lessinia" for the first time. On the other hand, the name Valpolicella ( Valle Pulliscella ), the area comprising the southwestern part of Lessinia, appears for the first time in a decree of Frederick Barbarossa dated August 24, 1177, in which the emperor granted to the Congregation of the Clergy the lands around the Castrum Rotaris in the surroundings of today's Kastelruth : this has nothing to do with

23360-507: The term appears is a deed dated May 7, 814, in which the gastald Ildemanno of Verona donated " campo meo in Luxino ad Alpes facienda, una cum capilo pasquo " to the Veronese monastery of Santa Maria in Organo . It may also have originated from the Veronese dialect word le sime , i.e., peaks, or from the Venetian lisso or lissio , i.e., a channel of beams for plants to slide down. Enclosed on

23520-579: The territories west of the city. The military work owes its name to Archduchess Sophie of Bavaria , mother of the future Emperor Franz Joseph . After the unification of Italy , the structure was long used as a dovecote by the Italian Army Corps of Engineers for the training of carrier pigeons. The hill and Fort San Leonardo owe their name to the church and monastery of San Leonardo in Monte Donico. The Romanesque-era complex, now deconsecrated , houses

23680-485: The territory, which saw the gradual abandonment of the castles until all traces disappeared, with the exclusion of that of Montorio because of its strategic position. At that time, the upper Lessinia was divided into Frizzolana, which included the wooded belt located between about 900 and 1200 meters and owned by city ecclesiastical bodies; the Silva Communis Veronae , located between 1200 and 1400 and belonging to

23840-437: The top of the hill can be reached by driving along the Monte di Villa road from Ponte Crencano and via Cava Bradisa from the center of Quinzano. Mount Ongarine (also called Longarine or Longarina, 313 m) rises north of the towns of Quinzano and Avesa and separates their two valleys. It is also called Mount Crocetta because of the concrete cross placed on its southern summit (281 m), which is also visible from neighborhoods west of

24000-554: The town of Rovereto , the Lagarina Valley , the cities of Verona and Rovigo and the north-eastern part of the Po Plain into the Adriatic Sea . The Adige and the Po run parallel in the river delta without properly joining. The Adige is connected to Lake Garda by the Mori–Torbole tunnel , an artificial underground canal built for flood prevention. The following rivers are tributaries to

24160-426: The tragic events of World War I and World War II , the end of the 20th century was characterized by a gradual depopulation of the Lessinian municipalities in favor of emigration to the city. Historical names used in Veronese documents for this territory are Luxino , Lixino , Lesinio , Lissinorum and Lissinia , always with the meaning of "land used and prepared for pastures." The earliest known document in which

24320-508: The various hill forts from the city safely and quickly. Porta San Giorgio , so called because it stands near the church of San Giorgio in Braida , is also called Porta Trento because the road to Brenner corresponding to today's Via Mameli departed from there. From the gate begins the northern turreted enclosure of the Scaliger walls (datable to the 14th century), which develops on the left bank of

24480-428: The water deposits the following is what was told by the grandmother of one of the writers, A. Benetti: "In the contrada "Valle della Ba" (Camposilvano) there lived in ancient times a woman named Maddalena. In the contrada there were no wells from which to draw water and so the woman, when she was doing her " lissia " (laundry) would go all the way to the " Posso del Loo " (Wolf's Well). When she had to rinse it required

24640-504: The way into the Carega group . The valley is very narrow in its northernmost portions, recording just under 200 meters in width at Selva di Progno and then opening up at Illasi to about 3 km. Near Giazza a valley opens up in a westerly-easterly direction, the Fraselle valley traversed by the stream of the same name. The last major valley in the province of Verona is the Val d'Alpone in which

24800-423: Was a cart road that went up the ridge and was used for the transhumance to the heights of goats and sheep. At Velo Veronese there was a military fort. The situation was different for the villages at the bottom of the valley in which, as a result of the centuriation of the 2nd century B.C., intense agricultural activity developed and where, at the same time, Roman villas arose whose owner, usually residing in

24960-425: Was a castle cum turribus et omnibus in circuito municionibus suis and that another was built in Grezzana. Others were built in later years; between the 10th and 11th centuries castra are documented at Poiano (built before 968), at Rocca di Lugo, at Azzago, at Romagnano, at Montorio and at Arbetu (present-day Erbezzo , mentioned in 1014). In the same years the cathedral chapter gained more and more power locally:

25120-408: Was granted in 1952 by the state property to the Congregation of the Stigmatine Fathers to relocate to it the shrine of Lourdes previously located in Piazza Cittadella in the city center, which had been destroyed by bombing in World War II. The new church would house the statue of the Immaculate found intact in the rubble, the work of sculptor Ugo Zannoni. From the square in front of the church, where

25280-418: Was mentioned in the " Lied der Deutschen " of 1841 as the southern border of the German language area . As of 2011 62% of Salorno speaks Italian and 37% speaks German. In 1922 Germany adopted the song as its national anthem, although by that time Italy had taken control of all of the Adige. Near Trento , the Avisio , Noce, and Fersina rivers join. The Adige crosses Trentino and later Veneto , flowing past

25440-414: Was possible to observe the plain. When Verona became Roman, the city moved to the castrum included in the bend of the Adige River where the historic city center still stands today. However, the hill overlooking the two main bridges in Roman times, the Pietra bridge and the Postumio bridge (the latter no longer extant) continued to be included within the walls . It was in this era that the hill took on

25600-402: Was practiced. From the quarries white and reddish limestone was extracted, widely used for town buildings. Despite this, much of the territory was uninhabited. There were, therefore, few signs left by the Romans, especially in the higher areas, who limited themselves to guarding the accesses, leaving the locals with the power to organize themselves administratively. At San Mauro di Saline there

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