Discover what to do in Castelnovo Bariano: the San Rocco fair, a bike ride in Castelnovo Bariano, the church of Sant’Antonio di Padova. Want to know more? First of all…
Where is Castelnovo Bariano?
The municipality of Castelnovo Bariano borders to the northeast with Villa Bartolomea, to the northwest with Legnago, to the south with Sermide and Felonica, to the east with Giacciano con Baruchella, Ceneselli and Castelmassa, to the west with Bergantino and Borgocarbonara.
The San Rocco Fair
The 2023 edition of the San Rocco Fair took place from Friday 25 to Tuesday 29 August near the parish church.
A recommended occasion for food lovers, the event features large dining areas where you can choose from tempting savory dishes of sea and land: from cod to spaghetti with clams, from donkey meat with polenta to succulent grilled meat dishes including bacon, sausages, coppa and chicken breast to be savored with cold mugs of beer and local wines.
As every year, the program of the popular festival includes an amusement park with swirling rides bright with electric lights, exciting synchronized dance performances, vintage car and motorcycle gatherings, and breathtaking martial arts demonstrations. For board game lovers, the event includes the inevitable bingo and burraco tournaments.
If you are wondering what to do in Castelnovo Bariano, the San Rocco Fair is an unmissable opportunity to spend the beautiful season with electrifying outdoor concerts, dance evenings, local food and wine specialties, rivers of beer and exciting fireworks displays to admire in the splendid rural setting of the Rovigo plain crossed by the majestic and winding course of the Po River.
To always stay updated on the upcoming events of the lively village celebration, you can consult the Facebook page Pro Loco Castelnovo Bariano APS and the website prolococastelnovobariano.it.
Bike Ride in Castelnovo Bariano, Castelmassa and Calto
The starting point of the itinerary is the church of Sant’Antonio di Padova at Via Dante Alighieri, 2. Leave the facade of the place of worship behind you and proceed southwest to the intersection, then turn right into Piazza Municipale. Proceed for 240 meters, then turn left into Via Gramignazzi.
Follow Via Gramignazzi for 800 meters through poplar and birch woods, corn and wheat fields, then keep left into Via Giacciana. After 600 meters keep right to reach the embankment, then turn left.
Proceed southeast for just over 9 km along Via Argine Po and Via Lungo Po. From this perspective you can contemplate the suggestive flow of the river, from whose surface emerge river islands covered with lush cypress poplars, alders, willows, mulberries, elms and hawthorns.
Noteworthy is certainly Isola Bianchi, a charming natural oasis located in the neighboring municipality of Sermide (MN), where the gull-billed tern, a fascinating migratory bird, finds refuge.
Just before the river landing Al Port (44.98975195180263, 11.352378055345856), descend the embankment, then keep left into Via Vittorio Emanuele until you reach the center of Calto where the municipal seat and the church of San Rocco are located, then turn left into Via Giuseppe Mazzini.
Proceed for 1.3 km entering the serene rural landscape of Calto marked by wheat fields and lush willow hedges. After reaching the charming Oratorio della Madonna Pellegrina, continue northwest for 2.7 km along Via Bosco. At this point (45.01117238699501, 11.316474990543261) turn right into Via Mercanta and proceed north for 700 meters, then turn left into Via Leonardo da Vinci.
Cross the center of Castelmassa along Via Leonardo da Vinci and Via Galileo Galilei. Once you reach the municipal seat of Castelmassa, turn left into Via Cesare Battisti. After 90 meters turn right into Piazza della Libertà, cross it and climb back onto the embankment (here you will find the sundial and the giant chessboard) and return to the starting point by retracing the panoramic road.
The Church of Sant’Antonio di Padova
The elegant facade of the place of worship, in exposed brick, is enclosed by two pilasters that anticipate its double-pitched profile, underlined by an ornamental motif of hanging arches. Concluded by a pointed arch, the massive wooden portal is surmounted by a rose window. The latter is embellished with white columns connected by trilobed arches.
Topped by an elaborate wooden truss ceiling, the wide nave of the church is partly illuminated by the dazzling rose window, partly by the single-lancet windows, mullioned windows and circular openings, also in polychrome glass, which open respectively in the apse and along the sides of the building.
If you are wondering what to do in Castelnovo Bariano, the church of Sant’Antonio di Padova is a jewel of neo-Gothic architecture and one of the most significant spiritual and cultural landmarks of the municipality.
