There are places where literature is not simply read: you pass through, breathe and recognise yourself in the landscape. Veneto is a region alive with words, where the verses, novels and thoughts of the great authors become a compass for unexpected journeys.
The Euganean Hills are home to the words of the Father of Humanism: the Francesco Petrarca Literary Park follows in the footsteps of the poet, who chose to spend his final years in Arquà, among cypresses and Latin verses. But this is no solitary pilgrimage: from Shelley to Byron, from Foscolo to Goethe, these hills have always attracted restless minds and deep perspectives. The itinerary travels past refuges, gardens, villages and churches, painting a literary landscape that escapes the postcard and is rooted in memory.
Vast, intricate, wonderful delta.
These are the words of Emilio Salgari in The Mystery of the Black Jungle, one of the fantasy novels featuring Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia. While it is now common knowledge that the writer never actually visited the places where he set his novels, few know that his inspiration for the Ganges Delta was the island of Boschetto, a stretch of the Adige river south of Verona, which at the time was a wild and forested area.
A postcard from the gods.
Born and raised among the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, the poet Andrea Zanzotto dedicates these grand words to them. Zanzotto's poetry lives on in the area where he was born and spent his life, the gentle and colourful landscape of the Marca Gioiosa et Amorosa [Joyous and Amorous March], a name for the Province of Treviso that dates from the Middle Ages but remains just as valid today in an area famous for its carefree life and excellent wine.
A more serious and austere voice comes from Dino Buzzati, a virtual echo of the mountains where he was born and which he never forgot: the Belluno Dolomites. He was one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and rereading his works takes us on a timeless journey, where the thrilling mountain landscapes are the protagonists of worlds where man is merely a participant. He even dedicated the piece L’amico Schiara to Schiara, the mountain he could see from the balcony of his house. But the roots of the literary itinerary dedicated to his final work, The Miracles of Val Morel lie among the solitary and mysterious landscapes of Valmorel, in the municipality of Libana.
Mario Rigoni Stern, on the other hand, tells the story of the Asiago Plateau of the 7 Municipalities: in his novels the stars are the forests, animals and mountains where he was born, became a man and left as a soldier. In the preface to his most famous novel, The Sergeant in the Snow, he recalls the trees of Villa Zecchin:
[...] tired of playing, we lay down at the feet of the Four Larches and read adventure books aloud; each of us was a character: the Green Corsair, Brave Eagle, Sandokan, Kim, the Captain. At sunset we all climbed to the tops of the trees – everyone had their own – and, from up there, we silently watched the sky where fantastic red clouds roamed.
It seems customary for Venetian writers to take inspiration from their landscape to tell universal stories of places, people and feelings. But even world-renowned artists have set their adventures in these territories. Think of Ernest Hemingway who, in his Across the River and Into the Trees, tells of the Eastern Veneto, the valleys, pine forests and lagoons of Bibione and Caorle.
