Discover things to do in Brendola: the festival of San Michele Arcangelo, the Duomo of Brendola, and Trail 32. Want to know more? First of all…
Where is Brendola?
The municipality of Brendola borders to the northeast with Altavilla Vicentina, to the northwest with Montecchio Maggiore, to the southeast with Val Liona and Zovencedo, to the southwest with Sarego, to the east with Altavilla Vicentina, Arcugnano and Zovencedo, to the west with Montebello Vicentino and Sarego.
The festival of San Michele Arcangelo
The day dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo is September 29, but the celebration in his honor does not always correspond to this date. The 2022 edition took place from September 16 to 18.
On the occasion of the event, Piazza del Mercato will host a large dining area where you can savor exquisite dishes that will make your mouth water, from indulgent greasy sandwiches filled with cured meats to timeless traditional dishes like baccalà alla vicentina with steaming polenta slices. The undisputed star of the gastronomic event will be the succulent meat cooked on a rotating spit.
A recommended appointment for sports enthusiasts, the event program includes five-a-side football tournaments at the nearby sports field.
For more information about the rich menu and engaging initiatives of the festival, we recommend visiting the Facebook page Sagra San Michele.
If you are wondering what to do in Brendola and want to experience the end of summer in the jovial and welcoming atmosphere of an old-fashioned village fair among glasses of top-choice wine, mugs of beer, and live music, attending the festival of San Michele Arcangelo might be just right for you!
The Duomo of Brendola
Located at Via Carbonara, 5, the Duomo of Brendola is one of the most significant monuments of Brendola’s cultural heritage. Designed in the 20th century and left unfinished, the 1900s architectural complex is distinguished by an imposing blackened facade punctuated by four massive pilasters.
On the ground floor, three depressed arch openings open up, corresponding to the access portals, above which three huge round-arched single-lancet windows stand out (the central one being larger), through which rows of mighty columns separating the naves and the exposed buttresses can be seen, generating impressive and sharp plays of light and shadow that envelop the gigantic structure, slowly devoured by green and lush weeds, in a romantic and mysterious aura that seems to invite the spectator to silently contemplate its solemn bulk.
If you are wondering what to do in Brendola, visiting this rare architectural complex steeped in mystery and decadent charm will be a memorable experience!
Trail 32
The starting point of the route is the parking lot between Via Asiago and Via G. Zanella (45.47161970328074, 11.45784532470339).
Alternatively, if you want to include a visit to the Duomo of Brendola in the route, you can leave your car in Piazza del Mercato.
Starting from Piazza del Mercato, reach the intersection of Via B. Croce and Via Revese via Via Gioacchino Rossini. Turn right and proceed for 600 meters along Via Revese until you find, on your right, the elegant unfinished structure of the Duomo of Brendola. Turn left and walk along Via Roma for about 450 meters, then turn left into the parking lot.
At the pedestrian crossing (45.471457065965396, 11.45803580298713), go up the staircase leading to the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo. Once at Piazzetta del Popolo, the effort of the hike is rewarded by the wide-ranging view of the lively hills studded with silver olive trees, the valley furrowed by rows of lush vineyards, and the picturesque rustic farmhouses that fade into the horizon.
Walk along the north side of the church of San Michele Arcangelo, then go up the white staircase on your left, flanked by a three-story building with a plaque dedicated to Felice Piovene.
Follow Via Pio XII for 300 meters, a winding panoramic road from which you can take in the extraordinary rural scenery of the valley punctuated by cultivated fields, resembling tiny mosaic tiles from this perspective.
Behind you, rising on the rugged limestone summit of a grassy hill dotted with olive trees and bordered by terraces supported by white dry-stone walls covered with ivy, tower the soaring stone towers of the Rocca dei Vescovi, a thousand-year-old fortification built presumably during the reign of Berengar as a defensive bastion against Hungarian incursions.
At this point continue north along Strada Monti Comunali for about 150 meters until reaching a fork. Keep right and proceed uphill along the road, initially paved then unpaved, which enters a dense tunnel formed by the branches of majestic beech trees from which, in the sections where the vegetation thins out, increasingly evocative landscapes can be seen as the altitude increases, examples being La panca sulla Roccia and the belvedere of the Bosco della Brendola.
The trail now continues west passing through the Bosco comunale Mario Tonin and Via della Pineta, winding through thick woods and bright clearings until reaching, via Strada Monti Comunali, the Golf Club Colli Berici. Shortly after the Golf Club parking lot, go back into the path framed by tall oak trees (45.484126805740566, 11.454741005246571).
The route skirts the side of the hill heading south. After passing a wooden bench (45.479825086692145, 11.452820193890329), the gravel road crosses a cheerful stream and emerges onto Via G. Zanella (45.4739715954185, 11.455700318407057).
If you parked at the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo, turning left you will return to the starting point by following the shortest stretch of road. If you parked in Piazza Mercato, turn right and passing through Via Fogazzaro retrace the road you took on the way there.
