Autumn

The road slips mysteriously into the valley and runs alongside the lake, which feels eerie because you imagine it deep and cold. The wild mountains close the horizon with steep slopes and, were it not for the intriguing "national park" signs, you would almost feel like going back. Resist the temptation: the valley of the Mis shows its best farther on.

Some people face it going uphill and soon realize that it was actually made to go down. Because you feel tired just by looking at it. It's a 4444-step gray limestone stairway, on whose side is a hollow that was used to send down to the river Brenta the logs to build Venice's ships, the Serenissima. It is a masterpiece of rock carving for human traffic use, nestled in a wild environment. The Calà del Sasso is the hardest and most secret gateway to the Plateau.

This easy route starts from Praciadelàn, just above the village of Calalzo di Cadore, and follows the CAI path no. 255 (which is accessible for off-road vehicles in summer). The route goes up the long scree slope of Val d'Oten, a long valley that separates the Marmarole mountain chain from the imposing Antelao massif, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Follina, a small town at the foot of the Trevis-Belluno Prealps, is a focal point of the religious tourism circuit that leads to the discovery of places rich in spirituality and devotion and of great artistic value.

Here you will find one of the most beautiful holy buildings in Veneto: the Abbey of Santa Maria.

Suspended between the ground and the sky, clinging to the rocky wall of Mount Baldo, the charming Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Crown is a sacred site made beautiful by both its spiritual character and the originality of the surrounding landscape. The Sanctuary, belonging to the Diocese of Verona, is in Spiazzi, a hamlet of Ferrara di Monte Baldo.

In the first half of the sixteen century the town of Bovolone (in the province of Verona) became an important pilgrimage destination as a result of the strong popular devotion to a marble statue of the Madonna and Jesus child on a throne (both wearing a belted tunic thus giving this name to the Shrine). 

According to historical chronicles, there were so many votes, offerings and votive panels donated to the Virgin that it was decided to build a church, completed in 1650 and known from then on as the Shrine of the Madonna of the Belt.

In the Padua area Christianity and the enormous devotion of Paduans is testified to by an invaluable religious architecture.

The Shrine of St Augusta at Serravalle, the ancient part of Vittorio Veneto (province of Treviso), is the final spot of an interesting journey, to make on foot, which starts from the Via Calcada, behind the apse of the Serravalle Cathedral. From here you ascend a monumental stairway built on the ruins of the ancient town gate "Porta del Terraglio", demolished in 1931. It takes around half an hour, going steadily, to reach the top.

The history of this Shrine started in 1510 and it is related to the apparition of the Virgin Mary to the farmer Bartolomeo Broglia. The story goes that while working in the fields, this poor man was attacked by a serpent; to save himself he invoked the Virgin Mary to protect him. Bartolomeo looked toward the sky and saw a small statue of the Virgin wrapped in light, standing on the trunk of an ash tree. His heart filled with gratitude and he brought the statue home, but miraculously it disappeared only to return to the branches of the tree where it had first appeared.