Discover what to do in Villanova del Ghebbo: the Thanksgiving festival, a bike ride in Villanova del Ghebbo, the Church of San Michele Arcangelo. Want to know more? First of all…
Where is Villanova del Ghebbo?
The municipality of Villanova del Ghebbo borders to the north with Lusia, to the south with Fratta Polesine, to the east with Rovigo and Costa di Rovigo, to the west with Lendinara.
The Thanksgiving Festival
The 2023 edition of the Thanksgiving festival took place on Sunday, November 26, at the Church of San Michele Arcangelo.
This traditional event celebrates the typical products of Rovigo’s gastronomic culture, the result of the ancient bond between local agricultural tradition and the fertile, healthy soil of the Polesine plain.
Following the holy mass and the blessing of tractors and vehicles, the program includes food areas where you can taste culinary specialties such as risotto with tastasale and red radicchio, baked potatoes with seasoned radicchio, and mezzemaniche with pumpkin, speck, and provola, just to name a few of the tempting dishes from last year’s menu.
If you are wondering what to do in Villanova del Ghebbo, the Thanksgiving festival is an unmissable opportunity to visit a charming rural village immersed in the Rovigo countryside.
Bike Ride in Villanova del Ghebbo, Fratta Polesine and Costa di Rovigo
The starting point of the itinerary is the parking lot on Via San Michele, near the Municipal Gym “G. Falcone e P. Borsellino”. Head southwest on Via San Michele towards Bar “Baraonda Di Rizzi Giorgia”. At the intersection with Via Roma, turn left, proceed for about 80 meters until you reach the Church of San Michele Arcangelo, then cross the bridge to your right.
Turn left and follow Via Valdentro for just over 2 km, entering the green Rovigo plain, crossed by the Scortico Canal, among elegant farmhouses framed by well-kept gardens and thick elderberries growing at the edge of the road. Cross the railway line and head south on Via Stazione for 850 meters, passing by the house museum of Giacomo Matteotti overlooking a park dotted with fir trees, lindens, plane trees, cedars, lindens, and cypress poplars.
At the Ethnographic Museum of Fratta Polesine, turn left onto the path that runs along the Valdentro Canal. Along Via Riviera Scolo, you can admire, on your left, the tree-lined avenue of Villa David Franchin and the ancient Villa Oroboni surrounded by wheat fields.
After 500 meters, at the intersection with Via San Pietro, keep right and proceed for 130 meters towards the Church of Santi Apostoli Pietro e Paolo. At the intersection, turn left, follow Via San Giorgio to the intersection with provincial road 16, and turn left onto Via G. Monti. After 160 meters, turn right onto Via Ronchi.
Follow Via Ronchi east for 2.2 km in the peaceful and silent atmosphere of the Fratta countryside, partly dedicated to horticulture, partly covered with fruit trees, wheat fields, and cornfields. At the intersection, turn left onto Via XXV Aprile. The route offers a suggestive view of an ancient farmhouse, shaded by a weeping willow and surrounded by fig trees, jasmine, palm trees, black locusts, cedars, and many other lush tall plants.
Follow Via XXV Aprile for 2.1 km among picturesque rural settlements and flourishing nurseries. Along the way, you will find on your left a white oratory dedicated to Sant’Antonio, adorned with a charming bell gable (45.03383263018286, 11.672460908778616).
At the stop sign, keep right onto Via Granze for 750 meters, continue along Via J. Kennedy for 400 meters, then turn left and proceed to the intersection with Via Scardona, at a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary (45.046007651031715, 11.68400990980552).
Turn left and proceed for 3.5 km along Via Scardona, Via Casaria, and Via Roma, skirting the flourishing Parco delle Noci and passing through the hamlet of Coderotte. At the intersection, cross the road and continue on Via Roma for 500 meters in the shade of a row of magnolias, then turn right onto Via San Michele to return to the starting point.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo
An unmissable destination for those wondering what to do in Villanova del Ghebbo, the place of worship is internally embellished with spectacular 18th-century frescoes and houses a valuable pipe organ.
Facing west over a winding canal, the majestic façade is divided into two superimposed orders, the lower one marked by Ionic pilasters, the upper one by Corinthian pilasters. Surmounted by a curved pediment, the massive wooden portal is flanked by two niches containing statues of two saints.
Crowning the vertical development of the structure is a dentiled triangular pediment, from whose ends two sloping curved wings depart.
