Badia Calavena: Discover hiking trails and cultural heritage

Badia Calavena can be explored through several specific themes: hiking trails with named starting points, Monte Pecora and its wind turbine, religious buildings dating from different historical periods, and a local food culture. These themes offer different starting points for planning your trip. The trails have distinct focuses, from contrade to medicinal plants and a technical landmark; the buildings represent several historical periods.

Hiking trails with different focuses

The “Le contrade di Badia Calavena e la pala eolica del Monte Pecora” hiking trail begins at Piazza Mercato in Badia Calavena. Its name explicitly identifies the contrade and the wind turbine as its themes. The named starting point gives you a specific reference for planning your trip; at the same time, the trail’s name brings together two different subjects.

Another hiking trail, “Il sentiero delle erbe officinali di Sprea,” begins at the Giardino di Don Zocca. The garden, which covers about 4,000 square metres, is an educational garden for medicinal plants. The trail follows in the footsteps of Don Luigi Zocca, a priest known for his knowledge of herbs. This trail therefore connects the study of plants with a named person and a specific garden as its starting point.

The difference between the two trails can be summed up briefly: the first focuses on contrade and a wind turbine, while the second focuses on medicinal plants and Don Luigi Zocca. They offer two distinct themes to choose from.

Monte Pecora and the landscape

The Pala eolica del Monte Pecora stands on the summit of Monte Pecora at an elevation of 869 metres and is considered the first wind turbine in Veneto. At the highest point of the blade’s rotation, it reaches a height of 103 metres. These figures describe different measurements: 869 metres is the summit’s elevation, while 103 metres is the highest point reached by the blade as it rotates.

From Monte Pecora, panoramic views extend across the Colli Euganei and the plain to the pre-Alpine peaks. The view therefore takes in both the plain and the pre-Alpine mountain ranges.

Rare, old varieties of mountain fruit are grown at the Brolo delle Biodiversità. The cultivation of these varieties adds a specific botanical feature to the area’s landscape attractions.

Religious buildings and historical periods

The abbey complex in the centre of Badia Calavena includes a 15th-century cloister, the Tolstrina and the old church. These three named features give the complex a distinct historical character; the cloister has a specific date range.

The Abbazia del Maffei is located in Piazza del Mercato and dates back to 1430.

The Chiesa dei Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia was built between 1824 and 1828. The Chiesa di Sant’Andrea Apostolo in Sant’Andrea, Badia Calavena, was built in 1870 on the foundations of an earlier church. Chronologically, the construction dates range from the 15th-century cloister and the 1430 Abbazia to the 19th-century churches; in Sant’Andrea, the foundations also point to an earlier church.

Local food culture

Polenta with bogoni is one of the traditional local dishes. This dish adds a culinary connection to the hiking, landscape and architectural themes as you explore Badia Calavena.

Discover more destinations: Braga, Malcesine, Marciaga, Salionze, Isola Rizza, Fornello, Spiazzi, Bonferraro

For the broader travel overview: Verona.