t View over the River Adige towards the Duomo's bell tower
t View over the River Adige towards the Duomo's bell tower
Experience The Veneto and Friuli
The Veneto’s sheer variety makes it one of Italy’s most fascinating regions to explore. The cities of Verona, Padua and Vicenza are all noted for their outstanding architecture, churches and museums. Villas in the rural hinterland are gorgeously frescoed with scenes from ancient mythology. The lagoon has busy fishing ports and beach resorts, while to the north lie the majestic Dolomites, with their Alpine beauty and excellent hiking facilities.
The Romans built frontier posts on this fertile land of silt deposits, and these survive today as the cities of Vicenza, Padua, Verona and Treviso. Strategically placed at the hub of the empire’s road network, the cities prospered under Roman rule, but suffered in the wave of Germanic invasions of the 5th century AD.
The region’s fortunes revived under the benign rule of the Venetian empire. The medieval cities of the Veneto lay on important trade routes such as the Serenissima, the road connecting the flourishing port cities of Venice and Genoa, and the Brenner Pass, used by commercial travellers crossing the Alps from northern Europe. Wealth from agriculture, commerce and the spoils of war paid for the beautification of these cities through the building of Renaissance palaces and public buildings, many designed by the Veneto’s great architect, Andrea Palladio.
Today the Veneto is a thriving wine exporter, textile producer and agricultural centre, and Friuli is a focus for new technology while remaining largely agricultural. Both regions are popular tourist destinations, despite lying a little in the shadow of Venice, and boast an abundant and enchanting variety of attractions.