The Euganean Hills to explore with Casanova and Shelley

Looking down on them from above, one immediately notices that the Euganean Hills boast a truly remarkable volcanic past. The alternation between conical peaks and gentler slopes in the natural landscape stretching between the Adige and Brenta rivers is continuous and uninterrupted: in this part of the province of Padua, lava has penetrated fractures in the Earth’s crust, either flowing out or causing existing landforms to rise upwards. In any case, following trail number 5 within the Euganean Hills Regional Park from Casa Borotto towards Lozzo Atestino, you come across Monte Lozzo itself, which clearly reveals its origins. Similarly, Trail No. 6, which you join behind Monselice railway station, soon takes you to the slopes of Monte Ricco and Monte Castello, which were clearly formed by volcanic eruptions. The Geopalaeontological and Industrial Archaeology Museum at Cava Bomba, a former nineteenth-century brickworks, recounts the transformations that have taken place in this area over millions of years and displays a fascinating collection of fossils and minerals extracted here. The village of Cinto Euganeo, which emerges from a wooded backdrop of oak and black locust trees, also bears the marks of cryolite quarrying, a distinctly volcanic rock. It is also well worth climbing to the summit of Monte Rua, where a Camaldolese hermitage stands, to enjoy a sweeping and comprehensive view of the geological landscape of the Euganean Hills. Another highly charming vantage point is the Convent of Santa Maria Annunziata in Orbieso: the dense network of mule tracks converging on the Strada Fonda offers moments and metres of deep immersion in the landscape of volcanic origin. Francesco Petrarca, who chose to live in nearby Acqua, Ugo Foscolo and Giacomo Casanova were regular visitors to these volcanic lands. They inspired the cultured travellers of the Grand Tour in the centuries that followed, in particular the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who wrote in his work *Prometheus Unbound*: “These were the famous Euganean Hills which, viewed from the Lido amongst the wooden jetties of the harbour, appear like a cluster of jagged islands – and then – as if land and sea were melting into a lake of fire, those mountains seemed to tower as if ablaze, surrounding the vapourous sun, from which came the inner red spirit of light, rendering their peaks transparent”. I wonder if the British poet would have chosen the Esplanade Tergesteo, nestled amongst chestnut woods, terraced vineyards and orchards, whilst basking in the warmth of Montegrotto Terme.