Aart Heering
If you travel by train or on the highway from Venice to Rome, they can be seen just past Padua. The Colli Euganei, a hundred 30 million year old extinct volcanoes, rise gently from the otherwise flat Po plain. The highest is just above 600 meters, which means that the hills have their own climate, which is cooler and less oppressive, especially in the summer, than in the surrounding lowlands.
The Euganean Hills or Euganese Hills, as they are also called in Dutch, owe their name to the Euganei, an ancient tribe that lived here before the Romans. Flanked by the towns of Este and Abano Terme, the hills form a Regional Park with many attractions: nature, wine, local products, castles and healing springs.
As a tourist destination, they are little less known outside Italy and that was a good reason to accept an invitation for a three-day wine and culture tour for the foreign press. The trip was organized by the Association Strada del Vino Colli Euganei, the association of local winegrowers, hoteliers and restaurateurs.
1. The Castello del Catajo
The first visit was to the Castello del Catajo in Battaglia Terme, the state villa of the Obizzi, a family of mercenaries who fought for centuries in the armies of European monarchs. For Marquis Pio Enea degli Obizzi, this was reason to immortalize the heroic deeds of his ancestors in a series of neatly numbered monumental frescoes that together form a beautiful historical picture book.
From the Crusades to 1570 you can see how the Obizzi were involved in all major battles, always on the winning side, of course. The successive rooms are a long series of crowned heads, popes, nobles, knights and pikemen, each with an Obizzi in the leading role. For example, on fresco number 16 you can see how Niccolò degli Obizzi was there when the old Count Guy of Flanders surrendered to the French King Philip the Fair in 1301.
Number 33 praises Lodovico degli Obizzi, 'great warlord and general of the Florentines'. And in another one Obizzo Obizzi is throated during a civil war in the city of Lucca. That was of course not very glorious and perhaps that is why this painting was never completed.
An extra wing was added to the complex in 1838 to receive Emperor Ferdinand of Austria – to which the Veneto region still belonged at the time – and his retinue. For those who also want to visit a lesser-known monument, the recently restored villa is highly recommended, especially when the young guide Lara shows you around enthusiastically and omnisciently, also in English.
2. The jujubes of Arquà Petrarch
The medieval mini town of Arquà Petrarca is known for its jujubes, in Dutch jujubes. This slightly sweet and sour fruit that looks like a large olive or a small date can also be found elsewhere in Italy, but then it is usually a lone tree in the garden.
In Arquà, on the other hand, they are on every street corner and the harvest, in September-October, is an annual folk festival. (During our stay, in the last days of March, the irregularly branched trees were still completely bare, so there was not much to see.)
De jujubes are processed in jam, tea, bonbons and in the Brodo di Arqua Petrarca, a jujube liqueur made only here, the taste of which tends a bit to that of amaretto. Ice-cold a suitable companion for contemplation, at room temperature as an aperitif and warm as a digestif, the label of the bottle purchased in the local shop states.
Anyway, the stuff is indeed easy to drink. Arquà takes its second name from the great poet Francesco Petrarch, who spent his last years here and died in 1374. His tomb represents it from the 11e century church of Arquà, in which a few rather naive Byzantine-looking murals can be seen.
3. Two good restaurants
On journalist trips in Italy you usually eat well and that was the case this time. The first evening we dined in the Ristorante Incalmo which lies against the medieval walls of Este. This very luxurious eatery started in 2021 with 2 experienced young chefs, who like to experiment with both traditional and exotic dishes.
An example of that was already the starter, a cream of ricotta cheese, artichoke and citrus fruit powder. One followed Risotto with a ragout of sunflower seeds, jujubes (jujubes) and drained kimchi, Korean fermented cabbage. A glocal recipe, so to speak, remarkable but successful!
The next course brought a cauliflower escalope, with a sauce of burnt bread, grapefruit and mustard. Not bad either, but daring, was the general verdict, especially since the charred bread brought a bitter element to it.
Subsequently, there was great enthusiasm for an intermediate course of fried quince with reduced vermouth, and for dessert, a variation on the Filipino cassava suman with coconut, lime and Philippine rum. Everything, of course, combined with appropriate local wines, but more on that later. In short, if you want to eat and drink original and refined in the Colli, then you've come to the right place.
The next evening it was the turn of a more traditional local restaurant. The dating from 1605 Antica Trattoria Ballotta in Torreglia serves regional products and wines from the Colli and where Incàlmo had a somewhat solemn, aesthetically supported atmosphere, the Antica Trattoria still has the working-class eatery it once was.
That was also reflected in the menu: a appetizer of lightly marinated raw asparagus, freshly harvested and finely chopped, with flakes of Grana Padano cheese and slices of a local sopressa (finely pressed pork into a sausage).
Then the pasta: cannelloni with fresh wild herbs and soft growth cheese. The main course consisted of deboned guinea fowl from the grill with baked potatoes and vegetables from the pan. For dessert a classic millefoglie alla crema with strawberries, and the Moscato Spumante Fior d'Arancio DOCG from Borin as a fitting finish.
4. The spa town of Abano Terme
Already in classical antiquity, the Colli Euganei were known for their medicinal hot springs, which have been given the suffix to several villages in the area Spas have given. The most famous of these is Abano Terme, located on the edge of the Colli, which developed into an internationally renowned spa at the beginning of the last century.
The monumental dates from that time Grand Hotel Trieste & Victoria. This hotel, where we were lucky enough to stay, was opened in 1912 and became famous because the Italian Supreme Commander General Armando Diaz had his headquarters here in the last year of the First World War. (Diaz's room has been restored to its original state and can be visited upon request.)
After the general had reported the victory over the Austrians from here, Hotel Trieste was also given the name Vittoria. The hotel's halls still look as they did a century ago, but that (obviously) does not apply to the state-of-the-art spa area, with its warm pools and rooms for massage and mud baths, where we could also spend a morning.
I did not end up in a tub full of mud, as I had feared in my ignorance, but was smeared with pitch-black hot mud by a burly employee, after which I had to lie there for almost an hour, wrapped in cloth like a mummy and with softly pinging wellness music in the background.
An initially somewhat uneasy feeling quickly gave way to a far-reaching relaxation in which it was difficult to keep one's eyes open. If completely relaxexperience is therefore recommended, at least for those who are willing and able to pay a hefty penny for it.
Furthermore, there is not much to do in Abano. In recent years, dozens of large to very large spa hotels have been built, which has not made the town any more beautiful. Some of them are now closed and look abandoned even after the corona pandemic.
There is no storm on the street and in the hotel either, and the audience seems to be mainly limited to elderly Germans and French. But, we are told, it does fill up with guests from the region on weekends and the season has yet to start, so it can always be a good year.
www.visitabanomomontegrotto.com
View the rates of Grand Hotel Trieste & Victoria
5. The wines of Ca' Lustra
Many Italians know the Colli Euganei as the place of origin of the Fior d'Arancio, a local white wine from the yellow Muscat grape best known as sparkling wine, a light sparkling wine whose taste is indeed reminiscent of orange blossom. In addition, there is a dry version of the Fior d'Arancio and a sweet dessert wine.
But the Colli have much more to offer, says Roberto Gardina, de president from the Associazione, the association of local winemakers: 'We have 100 hills here that all catch more or less sun from 4 wind directions. That produces 400 microclimates, in which you can make just as many different wines.'
Of course there are not that many, but for a small area like that of the Colli, a remarkable number of different wines are made here, both with indigenous Northern Italian grapes and with imported varieties.
Like the red one Horton, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon produced by Gardina's company Quota 101 (named for the height of the hill on which its vineyard is located).
The label does not give the usual advice for matching food, but for a 'musical combination' with Perfect Day by Lou Reed and Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino as a film. Original and striking, because with its 14,5% the Ortone is indeed not a lightweight.
At the Azienda vinicola Ca' Lustra of the Zanovello family in Cinto Euganeo, an organic winery in the heart of the hill country, daughter Linda accompanies us on a tasting. It starts with Semprino, a local wine that Linda describes as the 'little brother of Prosecco'.
It is made from the same Glera grape, but is nice and dry and lacks that sweetish taste that you sometimes get tired of with Prosecco. Sparkling and fresh is also the Pinello, made from the local grape of the same name. At the 'light lunch', which according to good Italian custom is not very light - cheeses, sausage, freshly baked bread and a pasticcio con le erbette, a kind of lasagna with wild spring herbs – we get one Olivetano, a solid white blend with the local grape varieties Tai Bianco and Garganega.
And then Note 2015, a long-aged red cabernet. A wonderful wine, but unfortunately – Linda warns – has to be taken out of production due to climate change: 'We used to work a lot with Chardonnay, but it cannot withstand the increasing heat. The same applies to the cabernet, which becomes susceptible to viruses above 30 degrees. That is why we are increasingly returning to local grape varieties that can better handle the extreme temperatures.'
Finally, one follows Fior d'Arancio DOCG Passito, a beautiful dessert wine that is certainly not inferior to the much more famous Passito di Pantellaria.
6. The Pottery of Este
On the south side of the hill area is Este, a town of about 15.000 inhabitants with a glorious past. The medieval still bears witness to this Castle that towers over the city. In Italian history, Este is known for the d'Este family, local marquesses who rose to become Dukes of Ferrara and Modena.
Este has been since the age of 18e century also known for its porcelain made with clay from the hills, often in a cobalt blue, known as blu d'Este. That tradition still lives on in the company situated against the city wall Este Ceramiche Porcellane, where the pottery is still made and painted by hand. The characteristic decorations are fruits and vegetables, arranged on plates with a trompe l'oeuileffect that makes real and earthenware food hardly distinguishable from each other.
In addition, the company uses 3 centuries old and accidentally found baking molds. Ceramics used to be a vibrant industry in Este, but Este Ceramiche is the only remaining factory in the center. That also has its advantages, explains our tour guide: 'There is still a demand for original handicrafts and fortunately we still find young people who are willing to learn the trade. And because many European pottery factories are closing, we can increase our turnover, partly via the internet.'
For example, a French company that produced crockery with family crests, among other things, recently stopped, so that customers now end up in Este. For example, it may happen that the showroom hangs a sign with the coat of arms of the House of Savoia, the former Italian royal family.
7. Luxardo: liqueur and history
On the way to Torreglia we pass flowering cherry trees which, as stated on a sign in the bongerd, are destined for Luxardo, the liqueur manufacturer to which our next visit will take us. It concerns the marasca, a sour cherry that only occurs here and in Dalmatia and from which Maraschino (maraschino) is fired.
Luxardo has almost a monopoly on this liqueur, which until recently had the image of an old-fashioned drink that you could at most use to enhance fruit cocktails. (Fresh pineapple with a dash of maraschino is a classic.) 'But since 2004, demand has been increasing rapidly, especially as an ingredient in cocktails. As a result, we now export to more than a hundred countries and 80% is destined for export,' says export manager Giorgio Luxardo during a tour of the company, which has a typical sweet scent and also produces numerous other liqueurs. Such as curaçao, limoncello, amaretto, sambuca, triple sec and gin.
The marasca cherry is also used to make a very sweet and blood-red liqueur called Cherry Sangue di Morlacco, and jars of (non-alcoholic) cherries in juice, which do well on the pie (flan).
Giorgio is the sixth generation to work in the company, as Luxardo, like all the companies visited, is a family business, typical of Veneto, a conservative, hard-working region with a great sense of tradition and family spirit. The eventful history of the family and the liqueur in its typical raffia-covered bottles is also dedicated to the recently opened museum next to the production company.
Until the Second World War, the company was located in Zara in Dalmatia, Italy at that time. Founder Girolamo Luxardo started the factory production of the marasca liqueur here in 1821, which was then still distilled in monasteries and at home. In the 20e century marasquin also became an international concept and with it Luxardo.
But in 1943 the distillery was destroyed by English bombers and the following year Yugoslav partisans took the city. Zara became Zadar and the partisans massacred the Italian inhabitants, killing two Luxardo brothers as well.
The rest of the family fled to Italy, along with 330.000 other Italians from Istria and Dalmatia, and started again in 1947 in Torreglia, where the soil proved suitable for the cultivation of marasca cherries, with the production of maraschino, on which Luxardo is still had the patent.
In the museum you will therefore not only find historical posters, bottles and distilling equipment, but also videos in which this sad history is fully explained. That is understandable, also because the tragedy of the Italians in former Yugoslavia has been shoved under the rug for too long, but it also gives this company museum a clearly political character. With war images that are not directly suitable for children.
8.Villa dei Vescovi
At the end of our stay we visited the Villa dei Vescovi in Torreglia, a classic renaissance monument. This former summer residence of the bishops of Padua was built on the model of a Roman villa, as a square with a impluvium, an opening in the roof through which the sunlight enters and collects the rainwater.
Here too we find fresco decorations, including works by Lambert Sustris, a 16ecentury Dutch painter who is less well known in his own country than in Italy, where he spent most of his life. In Italy he was appreciated for his landscapes, with which he introduced a typical Dutch element.
From the spacious terrace you have a beautiful view of the hills. The villa with its beautiful Italian garden and its own vineyard has recently been restored and has been open to the public since 2021. You can have lunch on the terrace and taste and buy local wines on weekends.
www.fondoambiente.it/luoghi/villa-dei-vescovi
Want to go to the Colli Euganei yourself?
You see. There is still much to discover and experience in this undiscovered hilly area! Would you like to immerse yourself in all the beauty that the fascinating Colli Euganei have to offer?
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mr. Heering, I recently found your article, and I found it very helpful. My wife and I are planning a two week trip in September using Padova as our base. The Euganean Hills is an area we would like to explore, but it is rather large, and articles such as yours really help narrow down the choices.
Your assessment that Abano would not be especially interesting for those of us who don't visit a spa spa helped save a few hours that could be spent elsewhere. I look forward to finding special places to visit, and your article is beneficial to this search.