The best walks and hikes around Vittorio Veneto

Monte Baldo di Tarzo, reaching an altitude of 599 meters, is a panoramic ridge that towers above the village of Nogarolo and the lakes of Revine. Despite its modest altitude, its strategic position offers a 360-degree view stretching from the Venetian Lagoon to the Dolomite peaks. Characterized by summit meadows and chestnut woods, the mountain is an ideal destination for trekking and mountain biking thanks to trails that ascend from the 225 meters of the lakes below. This place combines nature and history, preserving traces of ancient rural traditions and offering a regenerating solitude to those seeking direct contact with the pre-Alpine landscape and its unspoiled beauty.

excellent in winter for the sunny exposure and the view

The Sanctuary of Santa Augusta is a popular destination for the inhabitants of Vittorio Veneto. It is located on Mount Marcantone, now commonly known as Mount Santa Augusta. The classic access path begins in Via Calcada, behind the Serravalle Cathedral. After a monumental staircase, crowned by arches and a statue of Santa Augusta, it continues along a mule track, sometimes cobbled, that winds first between the walls of the fortified enclosure, then on the wooded side of the hill. Seven seventeenth-century chapels overlook the climb. Here ends the Alta Via nr. 6 dei Silenzi that starts from the Sources of the Piave. The Sanctuary of Santa Augusta is flanked by an ancient crenellated tower (now a bell tower) and a neo-Gothic portico. Inside there is the Chapel, the oldest part of the Sanctuary, where the relics of the Saint are preserved. From the large square around the Sanctuary, still a destination for pilgrimages, the view extends from the Serravalle pass to the Revine Lakes, from Val Lapisina to Col Visentin and, towards the south, over the city of Vittorio Veneto and the plain. According to tradition, the church stands on the site of an ancient castle where Augusta, daughter of King Matruc, lord and tyrant of those lands at the time of the Visigoth domination of Alaric, lived. Augusta converted to the Christian faith and, discovered by her father, was tortured and martyred. In 1450 it was decided to rebuild the ancient church and the tombs of Augusta and her nurse Cita were discovered. The chapel dedicated to her features valuable frescoes attributed to Andrea da Treviso. A curiosity: tradition has it that to make painful migraines go away, all you have to do is stick your head into the gate that marks the place where a stone urn concealed the bones of the saint, so much so that popular saying goes “le cordéle de S. Gusta le guarisse dal mal de suca”!

Simple, shaded path, also suitable for small children

A long avenue lined with cypress trees leads to the Pieve di Sant'Andrea di Bigonzo, isolated in a clearing that once served as a cemetery. The term pieve indicates an early church, equipped with a baptistery, which was responsible for the Christianization of a territory, and this corresponds to the foundation of Sant'Andrea in the 4th or 5th century, at the time of the martyrdom of Saint Augusta. The building in question was however rebuilt in Romanesque style and consecrated in 1303 with great prominence in the chronicles of the time. The façade has a five-lobed rose window in the center and two sepulchral canopies. On the south side stands the 17th-century bell tower while opposite is a small Renaissance portico. The interior, very suggestive, has a single nave covered by trusses, with four elegant canopies at the corners. The decorative set is noteworthy: frescoes mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries (Antonello da Serravalle, Francesco da Milano, Palma); sculptures (baptismal font with monolithic basin from the 11th century, two wooden crucifixes from the 14th and 15th centuries, a Renaissance altar with Saint Catherine), wooden tabernacle and polyptych from the Titian school; paintings attributed to Palma the Younger (1548-1628) and Francesco Frigimelica (ca. 1560-1649). Extract from «Vittorio Veneto e le Prealpi Trevigiane»

Past the stairs and the monument, the path is quite dilapidated. Trees brutally cut or uprooted; chaotic and unmaintained path. In short, a rather distressing climb. Fortunately, the spectacular view at the top is worth it. Access to a water point to cool off and toilets. Descent on the other side on a path hardly more comfortable but authentically wild and shady.

Attention, one side of the river is closed. Landslide...

Beautiful panoramic peak despite the low altitude.