FROM VALSUGANA TO THE VENETIAN VILLAS OF THE RIVIERA

STAGE 1

(Primolano - Cittadella, 35 km)

The first leg of our Venetian Brenta itinerary starts in Primolano – a village in the borough of Valbrenta, on the regional border with Trentino –, goes through Bassano del Grappa, and continues to the walled town of Cittadella. The route is essentially flat and suitable for all skills levels, and until Bassano it is mostly segregated and follows the river Brenta closely, then bends slightly east on minor roads and some segregated sections until Cittadella. The surface is mostly tarmac, with a few sections in good, compact gravel.

The starting point of our itinerary is near the Primolano train station, which marked the border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. The village can be reached by rail with the regional trains of the Bassano-Trento line managed by the Autonomous Province of Trento. For trainspotters and buffs, there is a small railway museum in the former engine shed of the village, managed by the SVF association (Società Veneta Ferrovie), which houses some old carriages and a restored steam engine, as well as other interesting material. From the museum, you head south and cross the whole village, first along via Circonvallazione, which despite its name (Ring road) is absolutely traffic-free, and then via Quattro Cantoni. You then ride over the SS47 state road and shortly after the river Brenta as well, and you descend onto provincial road 76 that goes to Enego. You turn right, then left immediately after, onto a street that goes under the SP76 Provincial Road, then turns into a fine cycle path (km 2.0). After passing the impressive river gorge, the cycle path ends at via Sbarra, a road that spans the Brenta, right at a famous restaurant (km 5.4). The name of the road is reminiscent of the border barrier, where Forte Tombion once stood. Built after the annexation of the Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy (1866), its ruins are still visible along the state road. You continue on the right bank of the Brenta, through a string of hamlets with typical stone houses, until you come to Valstagna (km 16.3), a very picturesque village on the banks of the river. In the parish church of Sant’Antonio Abate, built in 1919 in place of the original church that was destroyed in World War I, you can see a beautiful altarpiece with a Nativity scene by Francesco Bassano the old, dating back to 1528. You then continue on the road, always with very little traffic, and shortly after (km 18.1) you come to the entrance to the Caves of Oliero (which can be visited at certain times of the year), a karst system among the most interesting in Europe, which collects water from the Asiago plateau above, giving rise to the Oliero stream. At the church of the Holy Spirit, built in 1736 in Baroque style, and which holds another 1523 altarpiece by Bassano, the subject of which is the Pentecost, you leave the road and take the Brenta cycle path again for little less than 4 km, to then join the “Campesana” road after the village of Campolongo sul Brenta (km 22.5). Pending the start of the works for completion of the cycle path on the left bank of the Brenta, in the borough of Solagna the itinerary continues on the road until Campese (km 24.8), from the centre of which you can take a short detour that takes you closer to the water's edge, through Contrà Fietto and via Brenta, then rejoin Provincial Road 73 on via Viazzola. If you have a suitable bike, you might even consider continuing past via Brenta towards Bassano, on a wide single track, then get back on the tarmac right after the hillside tunnel, south of Campese (km 26.3). At Villa Angarano (km 28.2), you leave the provincial road and turn left into Contrà Corte Sant’Eusebio, and go through lush gardens, already in the suburbs of Bassano del Grappa. The villa (of which you can only see the outside) was designed and started by Palladio, which is why it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage, and was then completed in the seventeenth century by Baldassare Longhena. You now continue on via Fontanelle then on via Volpato, over via Colombare then back onto the provincial road, which crosses the town at km 30.0 of our itinerary. Turn left, then after a few dozen yards, left again towards the restored Bridge of the Alpini (km 30.4), on which you must walk your bike, and into the old town of Bassano del Grappa. The itinerary takes a right turning just after the bridge into via Ferracina, which turns into Campo Marzio and eventually Mure del Bastion, then leaves the old town, turning right into vicolo Bastion and coming out on the ring road (km 31). Bassano would well be worth a proper visit, owing to its rich historical-artistic heritage. However, for a bird's eye view, in addition to the Palladian Old Bridge we have already crossed, which was last rebuilt in 1966, you should not miss the church of San Francesco, in Romanesque style, whose convent houses the Town museum, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria in Colle, already mentioned in records before 1000 AD, located in the original castle, in the upper town. The itinerary starts again from vicolo Bastione and, after crossing the ring road at a traffic light intersection, turns left into viale XI Febbraio. Just after that, you turn right through piazza Paolo VI, practically a parking lot, and get on the cycle path along via Ognissanti. At km 32.0, you take a left and go along Strada Santa Croce for about 600 metres, then at the intersection with via Rosmini you turn left onto a wide cycle path, and at the next roundabout you turn right onto via Cà Dolfin, always on a segregated cycle path. You carry on and watch out at the junction with Colombo (km 33.7), as the roundabout is not particularly bike-friendly, and when you take via Cà Dolfin again, you will find the “same old” cycle path again, which however looks a bit worse for wear. The segregated path ends after crossing the Pedemontana motorway on a split-level intersection and continues in the same direction until the end of the road (km 36.2), right in front of the park of the eighteenth century villa Dolfin Boldù (not open to the public) in the municipality of Rosà. You turn right onto the cycle path along provincial road SP58, and after about 700 metres you turn left into a restricted traffic alley, via Livelloni. A little further on, the alley becomes unpaved and then turns into a foot and cycle path. We are in the area of the Dolfina irrigation ditch, where, over the years, the Consorzio di Bonifica Brenta has carried out some environmental recovery and restoration of the hydraulic engineering works: the results are utterly amazing. This section is outstanding from a naturalistic point of view, and ends in via Borromea (km 38.8). After turning left, continue for a few dozen yards, then turn right into via Dalmazia, an ancient farm road, now paved, where transit is allowed only to bicycles and authorised persons. The end part goes through the industrial estate of Brega, then you cross the road with the same name and go straight into via Cà Baseggio until the end of the road, at the intersection with the SP54 provincial road (km 41.5). You cross the provincial road and continue in the same direction, first on via Casona then on via Battistei. At km 43.5, you turn left into via Campagna Tron, a small country road, then right into via del Tron and left again into via Postumia di Ponente, SP24. After a few metres, you turn right into via Casaretta, cross the ring road on a convenient flyover, and carry on along the same road, which will bend left. At the next intersection, you go straight ahead on via Europa, go under the new SS47 “del Santo” state road then turn left into via Asiago (km 48.0). At the next roundabout, hang a right, on the cycle path on the left side, take via Brentella and carry on until the intersection with via Borgo Bassano. We are now within sight of the centre of Cittadella: in the background, you can see the Bassano gate, which can be reached via a fine cycle path on the left. The Bassano Gate, with its 30-metre keep, was the most important and largest feature of the entire town wall, almost an independent fortress, with a captain's house, rooms for the garrison and much more. The defence was ensured by as many as 5 gates and an additional guard ditch, which also separated it from the inside of the town. After going through the gate, you come very quickly to the old town, in piazza Pierobon, overlooked by the eighteenth-century Cathedral of the Saints Prosdocimus and Donatus. It holds works by Leandro da Bassano, Lattanzio Quarena and others. The museum next door is also interesting, as it holds true masterpieces.