In the flat, fertile plain south of Verona, near the town of Cerea, a low rise in the fields called Tombola hides the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. The site is listed among the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it belongs to a group of wetland villages that once stood among the marshes of the Valli Grandi Veronesi, a large area of wetland that was drained and reclaimed over the centuries.
The Veronese lowlands were once a land of rivers and swamps, and the prehistoric settlements here were built on the edges of the wetlands, on platforms or islands, to take advantage of the water and the fertile soil. The marshes were drained in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the landscape is now one of fields, canals and farms. Cerea is known for its furniture industry, with many workshops and showrooms, and the area around it produces rice, used in the local risotto all'isolana.
The riding here is flat and straightforward, with long straight roads across the plain, lined with poplars and canals. It is not exciting, but it is relaxing, and the light over the fields can be beautiful in the early morning or evening, with mist rising from the canals. The plain is hot and humid in summer, with mosquitoes, and foggy in winter. The Euganean Hills and the Berici Hills, to the east, offer more interesting riding, with winding roads through vineyards and villages, and the Palladian villas scattered across the countryside are worth seeking out.
Cerea, a town of thirteen thousand, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and Casaleone and Asparetto are smaller villages nearby. Verona, about forty kilometres north, is one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, with its Roman arena and medieval centre. The local food includes risotto all'isolana, a rice dish with pork, and pandoro, the Christmas cake of Verona. Riding across the plain in the evening, with the sun setting over the fields and the church towers silhouetted against the sky, has a quiet charm.