Preperchiusa - Cavegine
(Negrar-Castel-Preperchiusa-Siresol-Villa Sorte-S.Peretto-Negrar e Preperchiusa-croce-Case Antolini-Preperchiusa)
|
Length |
9 km |
|
Average Time |
3 hours |
The walk starts in front of Negrar church. Go straight down Via Vittorio Emanuele to the main road at the end and cross the road and then the bridge over the river bed. Turn left into Via San Martino and at the far end of the road turn right into the tree-lined avenue Viale Salvo DAcquisto, at the top of which you will find the Poiega shrine.
Turn left and after a few yards leave the road and take the path with the outside wall of Villa Rizzardi on your right and vineyards on your left. Follow the path to the end where it joins the road. Turn right and right again just before Villa, (photo) following the signs to Vigolo, Ara, Castel, Pezzabona and Preperchiusa. At the top of the road you will find the shrine of San Vincenzo (photo) on your left. Turn left here and walk uphill towards Castel di Negrar (photo). Follow the road round to the left at the top of the hill and past the castle-like house known as Castel. After a level stretch, the road bends to the right and goes uphill to Ara (photo), a small group of houses on your left. Keep on walking uphill to Cą Brusą with its wash-basin with running water; further up the road you cross a small bridge over a steep gully and then continue up the hill to Preperchiusa, passing an a fine crucifix on your left. The owner of the property you are walking through, Sig. Ugolini, tends his land with great care and has planted many rose-trees along the way and decorated the gardens and paths with gnomes and numerous small statues.
(See below for a detour which extends the walk by about an hour).
Follow the sign to Montecchio along a path with a fine panoramic view over the valley of Negrar and Lake Garda, which is clearly visible on a fine day. At Cavegine it is worth stopping to drink from the spring of fresh water and to enjoy the view. Then continue along the path, keeping to the right through terraces of vineyards and cherry trees and slightly downhill into Via Ca Berna and the attractive area known as Siresol, with its fine renovated houses.
Turn right here onto the S.Peretto-Montecchio road and walk downhill past Concole (with a painting of the Holy Family on one of the houses) to Cą Trentin. At the bend, leave the road and turn left onto a cement road which becomes a path leading steeply downhill.
Keep to the left and follow the path down through vineyards, cherry orchards and olive groves, past a shrine on the right. After a few yards, bear left and follow the path, which comes out at the back of Villa Sorte. Follow the wall round to the front where there is a good view of the 17th century villa.
Leave Villa Sorte behind and take the path down into the village of San Peretto. At the cross roads with Via Molino Turri, turn right and follow the road for 100 yards to the old mill wheel of the Turri family. Where the road bends to the right, take the path to the left over a small bridge and then up past the church and bell tower in San Peretto. Bear left and follow the path to the top of the rise where you will come to a crossroads with a marble pillar and a small metal cross.
Turn right here into Via Calcarole and then left down Via Perez for about 50 yards after which there is a grassy path to the right which you follow until it meets the Poiega-Vigolo road; turn left past the entrance to the gardens of Villa Rizzardi, and then on to Poiega shrine once again, from where it is a short stroll back into the centre of Negrar.
Detour: for those who would like to walk a bit further.
From Preperchiusa, the route goes up to the cross which can be seen from below, in the direction of Sengia Sbusa (a large cave in the rock see photo), then on to an attractive group of houses known as Case Antolini and down through the woods, back to Preperchiusa and on towards Montecchio.
Description of the detour:
Preperchiusa and the path up to the cross are on private property belonging to the Ugolini family. Take the path named after the owner (Via Giovanni Ugolini), which starts between the statue of the Virgin Mary on the right and the steep path on the left with red and white signs which you will come down on your return.
Follow the windy path uphill past numerous statues and through vineyards and cherry orchards with fine views over the valley. This part of the walk is recommended for families with children who will enjoy the playful figures and statues. The path passes below Sengia Sbusa (see above) and comes out into a clearing near another vineyard. Walk over to the metal cross on the left, from which there is a fine view of Negrar valley. Take a rest after the climb!
Now the walk continues uphill on the path you were following before. On the left you will come to a fence around a chicken farm. Follow the path to a closed gate which you can get past through an opening on the right and then turn left along a path which follows the other side of the chicken farm past the yellow grain silo. At the end of the path, turn left into the road and walk past a fountain and on to the group of houses known as Case Antolini, with a religious painting on the facade of one of the houses and a sculpture of the Madonna. Walk up to the houses and then along the right side of the house on the right. Here amid thick vegetation you should find the red and white sign on a tree indicating the beginning of the steep path which leads back down towards Castel. Follow the path (and the signs) for twenty minutes to get back to Preperchiusa.
 |
Sengia Sbusa alt. 595 mt An interesting karstic system with monolithic tower of rock about 45 metres high and various caves with a small natural arch next to the tower.
|
|
Contrada Antolini alt 611 mt Two parallel groups of houses. On the facade of one of the houses a wall painting of the Holy Family, said to be by Celestino Dal Barco ( il pittore dagli occhi chiusi che raffigurava in questo modo i suoi personaggi) |
 |
 |
Preperchiusa The name comes from " Prča pertusa" or perforated rock, or in local dialect "sengia sbusa". The 1963 shrine has a statue of the Madonna at the top of a small stairway |
|
Contrada Cavegine A group of terraced houses on a terrace among fields of cherry trees, with an attractive fountain on the path below con from which there is a fine view.
|
 |
 |
Siresol The name comes from the word "ciliegeto", or cherry orchard |
|
Capitello di Poiega
shrine
dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built in 1902 with the inscription:
|
 |
 |
Vigolo
From "viculus"
= small village |
|
Villa An ancient settlement known as "Vila" before hte year 1000. |
 |
 |
Portale di Villa |
|
A fine 19th century gateway with a fresco on the left showing the Annunciation and a stone bearing the legend: "indulgence of one hundred days for those who recite an Ave Maria, granted by his Eminence the Cardinal of Canossa Bishop of Verona on 17 September 1879" |
 |
 |
San Rocco
|
|
Villa La Sorte The 18th century villa which features in a poem by Berto Barbarani and in a painting by Angelo dall'Oca Bianca Villa La Sorte, in the hamlet known as "La Sorte", was built on commission for the Noris noble family in the 18th century, in a remote and quiet corner of the valley. The architecture is simple, and the villa has an elegant wrought iron railing alongside the outside staircase and the central balcony. Some 18th century statues can still be seen in the garden, and there are also the remains of greenhouses for citron trees and some fountains. |
 |
 |
Villa Rizzardi a Pojega The Italian garden of villa Rizzardi was designed by Luigi Trezza in 1783 on three different levels. It has a belvedere, a small temple and a theatre set in the di un tempietto e di un teatro vegetale su designed by the famous architect, del quale questo insieme č considerato il capolavoro. La villa itself was rebuilt on the site of the original villa between 1868 and 1870.
|
|
Pojega In 1246 Pojega was known as "puiaga" probably meaning "estate belonging to Pullius". It could derive from "pulliatica" that is "plant with thick branches |
 |
 |
San Peretto The first information we have about the church of San Peretto, dedicated to St. Peter, dates back to 1530, but the Romanesque church tower suggests that it was built earlier than this. The tower is 26 metres high and has a square base. The original church of San Pietro, known as "San Pieréto" to distinguish it from the more important San Pietro Incariano, has been considerably changed and the direction of the church inverted; it contains a 15th century Gothic fresco
|
