Through valleys, vegetable gardens and fossil dunes. A territory in continuous transformation

The itinerary allows you to get to know closely the flora and fauna of an extremely changeable area, so it’s easy to go from dry meadows and bushes -typical of the Mediterranean scrub- to hygrophilous plants -characteristic of wet areas such as fishing valleys-. A landscape, in which man has adapted without distorting the rules of Nature. Birds will surely be the companions of this ride, since the Po Delta is an extraordinary ornithological area where it’s always possible sighting anatidae, wading birds, shorebirds including the great pink flamingos.

Rosolina

The route offers the possibility of following two itineraries:

ROUTE 1: the central route is 30 km long

ROUTE 2: the route that passes through Loreo is 38 km

ROUTE 3: the path of the entire perimeter is 47 km

1. The fossil dunes

To remind us that once this landscape was considerably different contribute fossil dunes, or sand deposits formed by winds but also by the action of the sea that used to mark the coastline in different times. Today the dunes are protected as Sites of the Community Interest as they are true biodiversity ecosystems in which orchids, ‘prugnoli’, ‘ligustri’, hawthorns and large trees, such as maritime pines, coexist.

2. Church of S. Maria Assunta of Loreo

The sacred building, together with the center of this small town, recalls the Venetian past of this area. The signature that embellishes the façade belongs to the great Venetian architect, Baldassare Longhena, who upgraded the original Baroque style throughout the XVIIth century. The interior is enriched by paintings from the Venetian school, including Antonio Vassilacchi (XVI century), Pietro Damini and Andrea Vicentino (XVII century) and Antonio Marinetti (XVIII century).

3. The Civic tower and the Antiquarium

The civic (or clock) tower dating back to the XVIIIth century, now housing the Antiquarium, it’s a small museum created with Roman finds from Corte Cavanella in the territory of Loreo; most of them are kitchenware, luxury items, and furnishings. A second room, instead, is dedicated to finds of boats and evidence of the tradition of naval carpentry and of the ancient trades on the Canal Naviglio.

4. Villa Vianelli (Tornova)

It is a large agricultural court, as many are found spread in the Po Delta area, evidence from a not very distant past, when a Gentleman and his family were the owners of the extensive countryside. Villa Vianelli is characterized by the Baroque façade with the ‘serliana’ and gabled windows. The interiors are also embellished by the precious ceiling decorations.

5. The Valleys

In the Valleys, the salt water of the sea meets the sweet water of the rivers, creating an incomparable landscape. On the salt marshes grow the limonium and the salicornia, while the shallow waters offer shelter and food for hundreds species of birds. But this is also a land of man, where the fishing of eels, mullets or sea bass has been practiced for centuries.

6. The flamingos

In the large mirrors of water that coast the sides of Via Valli it’s easy to see the pink flamingos throughout the year. They have become permanent since the ‘90s, moving just for small internal migrations that have been followed and monitored by Ispra allowing us to get to know life and habits of these extraordinary birds.

Photo credit R. Dissette

7. Birds

Birdwatching is one of the proposals, that integrates the possible activities on Via delle Valli. In fact from the turrets, in addition to flamingos, hundreds of species of birds can be sighted, adapted to this particular valley environment. Among these there is the fraticello, as well as the common tern or the zampenere; the sandwich tern; the redshank; the knight of Italy and the avocet, the ibis mignattaio and the vulpoca. Photo credit R. Dissette