In the footsteps of the Great War
Here is a splendid itinerary in the footsteps of the Great War but with amazing scenic views surrounded by lush nature. Starting point is the Center of Asiago, a town located at 1001 meters in the center of the plateau of the same name in the province of Vicenza, on the border between Veneto and Trentino.
An Italian outdoor paradise
One of the largest plateaus in Europe: over 460 square kilometers (for the Veneto part alone). An area rich in woods, forests, meadows and pastures, alpine walls, but also gentle and verdant contours, and if this is not enough for you… think that you will visit a unique place, for many this is the most beautiful plateau in the world.
Mountain bike and e-bike tours and excursions have always been specially structured for the participation of a limited number of guests in order to provide a professional service with a proper guide-guest ratio, to increase everyone’s safety, and for all participants to fully enjoy what nature has to offer.
We start from Regency Square, a symbolic place for Asiago and the entire Plateau, for a medium-easy hike suitable for everyone, whether on foot or by bicycle.
Regency Square is named after the former site of the Palace of the “Honorable Regency of the
Seven Municipalities,” what we will now call a supra-municipal body, which arose as early as 1310 and governed the highland lands for 500 years. Today it separates the cathedral dedicated to St. Matthew from the Municipal Palace of Asiago. Before leaving, we stock up on everything we need for our excursion at the “stores” in the area, small but important family-run businesses that are part of the social and economic fabric of the Plateau and have always contributed to making tourists feel like welcome guests and friends.
So from the Center of Asiago we go northward, following the green markers of the project “Fallen, Trees and Soldiers,” an initiative, financed under the Agreement between the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Veneto Region for the enhancement of the territories affected by the Vaia event in memory of the Great War, two important events that have characterized this territory a hundred years apart, both deeply marking the Plateau.
Rounding out the journey is also a free APP (available from mid-December) for Apple and Android platforms to try augmented reality and measure one’s knowledge with themed quizzes. The signposts and educational panels are designed to reduce visual impact and promote their integration into the environment, placed only when strictly necessary.
The itinerary
The itinerary and the dedicated App will take us to points of significant historical and naturalistic value such as the “Lumera Pond,” Mount Rasta overlooking the “central plain
plateau” and where artillery batteries were placed, the Defensive Barracks of Mount Interrupted.
Whether one decides to undertake the route on foot or by Mtb, we will pass by the memorial stone of the Catanzaro Brigade, which as the heroic motto mentions “On Mount Mosciagh the bayonet recaptured the cannon,” and at the Austro-Hungarian War Cemeteries of Mount Mosciagh, dating back to the wartime period of 1916-1917 and immersed in an exceptional naturalistic context also protected at the community level as a Special Protection Area.
The route, which on foot takes about 6 hours, developing 16 kilometers and 600 meters of elevation gain, can be covered much more easily with the possible help of an e-bike, perhaps rented from the many centers in the area that offer this service.
Excursion to Asiago: Vaia and the Great War
The itinerary is dense with stages between nature and history a route that can be sped up by e-bike
