IN THE "VALLI GRANDI VERONESI"

(Ostiglia – Cologna Veneta, 57 km)

Ostiglia, the Roman-era Hostilia, is a thousand-year-old crossroads of long-haul roads. In addition to the west-east route along the Po, just think of the north-south route of Via Claudia Augusta. This imperial road came down from the German Danube through the Brenner Pass and forked in Trento into the southern branch towards Verona and Ostiglia, and the eastern branch towards Feltre and Altino. This area, now under Mantua, is bound to be a transit point, the place of contact between different civilisations. And from here, the Green Tour takes us to the boundless "Valli Grandi Veronesi", recently reclaimed lowlands, a landscape of wide flat expanses and lush wetlands. This landscape is crossed by a mysterious straight line, the former railway line for Treviso. The "Ostiglia", as it is affectionately called by its many passionate fans, who often view it as a kind of mystical place, has a fascinating history despite its short and troubled life, and while in this area it has not yet been recovered as a cycling and walking path, we will skirt and often cross it along quiet back roads.

From the new railway station of Ostiglia (km 0.0) it is just a short ride to the piazza (km 1.7) dedicated to Cornelius Nepos, the celebrated historian of ancient Rome, the town's most illustrious son. After leaving the town centre behind, you cross SS12, the Abetone-Brennero state road, and soon pedal through a rural landscape, temporarily broken up by the visit to the Comuna sanctuary (km 7.1) but that soon turns boundless and quiet when you cross the Canal Bianco (km 7.7). The emptiness of the landscape is enlivened by the constant presence of the lush straight stretch of the former railway, which we frequently meet along the way and of which we can identify the old stations and crossing gate houses. You then enter the Verona province (km 12.6), and near Casaleone, you pedal on a charming dirt track (km 20.1) within the Valle Brusà nature park next to the river Menago, then come out through the main entrance (km 23.6). After Cherubine di Cerea (km 26.0), you come to San Pietro di Legnago, with its fine Romanesque parish church of San Salvaro (km 31.0); a short while after that (km 32.0) you pedal on the cycle path of the river Bussè, and soon come to Legnago (km 33.8), the main town of the southern Veronese region and birthplace of composer Antonio Salieri. In Legnago, you cross the Adige on the Umberto bridge (km 35.4) into the hamlet of Porto, where you soon realise you are riding next to the former railway again, a constant presence. You then pedal through pleasant and lush countryside, close to Boschi Sant’Anna and, after the underpass of the SR10 Padana Inferiore regional road, you arrive in the town of Minerbe (km 42.9), with its elegant villas, and where you might want to stop and have a look at the former station building, right at the end of a tree-lined avenue from the main piazza. After the short break, you cross the hamlet of San Antonio (km 47.3) and ride past the interesting villas Querini Stampalia and Gaudio (km 53.0), just before getting to the centre of Pressana (km 53.7). In the meantime, you will have crossed the former railway line several times, as you can clearly see when riding over what used to be a railway bridge until forty years ago, to have a look at the former railway station of Cologna Veneta right next to it (km 56.0). And so here we are at the end of this stage of the tour, the pleasant town of Cologna Veneta (km 57.6), which was one of the most prosperous garden towns of the Serenissima Republic of Venice, and is famed for its typical "mandorlato" almond brittle and high-quality agricultural products.

Possible detours

• Ostiglia is on the left bank of the Po, facing Revere. The VenTo cycle route, part of the SNCT, the National System of Tourist Cycle Routes, will go through here.

• As mentioned before, Ostiglia was the end point of one of the two branches of the Roman-age Via Claudia Augusta, which a European project seeks to develop as a soft mobility route (see www.viaclaudia.org). The VCA northbound cycle touring option, which has not been defined yet, will probably goo through the Busatello swamp then follow the river Tartaro, and go through Gazzo Veronese, Nogara, Isola della Scala and Vigasio, and from there to Castel d’Azzano and Verona.

• In San Pietro di Legnago you cross the Bussè river path, which links the rivers Adige (Legnago) and Po (Bergantino). It is already safe and pleasant to ride, but is scheduled to be further improved soon.

• In Legnago you cross the Adige Sud cycle path, the most natural and safest cycle route from northern Europe that leads straight to the Adriatic beaches (Rosolina Mare) or Chioggia and Venice.

• In Cologna Veneta you cross the Colognese cycle path, the main branch of which goes from Cologna to San Bonifacio in about 20 km (www.percorsodelcolognese.it).