Why this ride
A 158 km round trip from Monselice - roughly 2 h 46 in the saddle. On the way it passes Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat, Villa Chiericati, Villa Forni Cerato and back through Villa Chiericati.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Laghetto della Costa and Villa Forni Cerato
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 158 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 46
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Laghetto della Costa
The Euganean Hills rise abruptly from the flat plain south-west of Padua, a cluster of volcanic cones covered in vineyards, chestnut woods and olive groves. Arquà Petrarca, a medieval village on the southern slopes, is where the poet Petrarch spent his last years and died in 1374; his house can still be visited. Close by, in a small hollow between the hills, lies the Laghetto della Costa, a tiny lake that hides a big secret.
Read the complete Laghetto della Costa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Laghetto della Costa is where the day begins. Next is Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat, 26 km on.
2. Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat
Padua, in the Veneto, has one of the great pilgrimage churches of Europe, and it is the grave of a Portuguese friar. Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, joined the Franciscans and became a famous preacher, and he died near Padua in 1231 at the age of thirty-six. He was made a saint within a year, one of the fastest canonisations in history, and construction of the great basilica began soon after. The Basilica of Saint Anthony, which the people of Padua simply call il Santo, is a church of many domes, partly Romanesque and partly Gothic with a hint of Byzantine, and it holds the saint's tomb in a side chapel, where pilgrims press their hands against the marble.
Read the complete Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa Chiericati.
3. Villa Chiericati
Villa Chiericati stands in the flat countryside east of Vicenza, at Vancimuglio near Grumolo delle Abbadesse, a cube of pale plaster with a deep, columned portico that looks as if a Roman temple has been grafted onto a farmhouse. That is precisely what Palladio intended. Designed in the 1550s for Giovanni Chiericati, it is often cited as one of the first villas in which he gave the main façade a full temple front, an idea he would repeat, refine and make famous, and which architects copied for centuries afterwards, from English country houses to the American South. Like the other Palladian villas of the Veneto, it is part of the UNESCO site that includes the city of Vicenza.
Read the complete Villa Chiericati write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa Chiericati. Next is Villa Forni Cerato.
4. Villa Forni Cerato
Not every Palladian villa is a palace. Villa Forni Cerato, in Montecchio Precalcino north of Vicenza, is a small, modest building, a cube with a simple loggia and pediment, built in the mid-sixteenth century for Girolamo Forni, a timber merchant and amateur painter. Its attribution to Palladio has been debated, but it is included in the UNESCO-listed City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto, and its compact harmony shows how Palladio's ideas worked even at a small scale. It is privately owned and not always open, so check before planning a visit.
Read the complete Villa Forni Cerato write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa Forni Cerato, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Chiericati.
5. back through Villa Chiericati
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Chiericati write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Villa Chiericati sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat, 27 km on.
6. back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat comes up about 134 km into the recorded legs. Next is Laghetto della Costa.
7. Laghetto della Costa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Laghetto della Costa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Laghetto della Costa closes the day.
Leg by leg
Laghetto della Costa to Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat
Laghetto della Costa → Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat to Villa Chiericati
Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat → Villa Chiericati is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Chiericati to Villa Forni Cerato
Villa Chiericati → Villa Forni Cerato is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Forni Cerato to back through Villa Chiericati
Villa Forni Cerato → back through Villa Chiericati is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Villa Chiericati to back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat
back through Villa Chiericati → back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat to Laghetto della Costa
back through Basilica and Monastery of St. Anthony Orat → Laghetto della Costa is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.