The tour can start from Pernumia, a place that can call itself the “town of Ruzzante”, as it was home to the revolutionary playwright Angelo Beolco, known as “Ruzzante”, the man who better than any other has described and narrated this region’s agricultural world and who Dario Fo’ called his “spirit guide”. The reconstruction of the house where he was born is in this town, as it was unfortunately destroyed in 1930, but it is currently a private home. Before leaving, you could have a walk around Villa Maldura‘s botanic park: it dates back to the early 1700s and is home to some cultural associations that organise events and concerts here in summer, besides, of course, plays dedicated to this town’s celebrated citizen.  You can pass by the church of Santa Giustina, which opens its archeological trail located underneath the current church on request. The church overlooks the square next to the Casa del Capitano that was once home to a castrum.   We then leave in the direction of San Pietro Viminario, which got its name from its patron saint and because it was a famous centre for wickerwork (vimine in Italian). The church of San Pietro is also consecrated to the same saint. This small church has been restored to its original form and connected to what is left of a Franciscan convent with a lovely portico.   We also recommend passing through the hamlet of Vanzo, home to Villa Giustiniani, whose current shape was chosen by a member of the family, Marcantonio Giustiniani, who was a doge no less. The villa can be seen and admired from a road at the end of a majestic avenue and it’s famous for its rose garden.

The tour continues through Padua’s fertile countryside, a recent achievement that is the result of long reclamation works. As a witness of this past, the next town, Tribano, takes its name from the Latin word Triblanum which means a triple-size stretch of water. Only a tower is left of the once majestic castle built by the House of Este: it is currently near the town hall, even though it is just the reconstruction of the one destroyed by tyrant Ezzelino da Romano.   We then a nice provincial road and keep following the Strada del Vin Friularo among fields of vineyards, and of the famous asparagus and melons cultivated here, until we reach Conselve. The old name “caput silvae” reveals that there was once a big forest here, which touched the river Adige. The town was a land of conquest for foreign lords, from those in Carrara to those in Milan, but it was also a land of delight for the Venetians, who built Palazzo Ferrante, which has seen Garibaldi among its guests, and Villa Sagredo dei Toderini dei Gagliardis dalla Volta, whose family covered important military positions for powerful royal families such as the Habsburgs.   The tour continues in Cartura, which was famous for producing terracotta building materials, which gave it its original name “Cartorianum”. The town centre is home to the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, which is worth a visit to see the fresco on its ceiling, an artwork by the son of Gianbattista Tiepolo, Giandomenico. Opposite the church there is Palazzo Zabarella Buzzaccarini, an elegant Venetian building of 17th-century origin.   We can then decide to go back to Pernumia (30 km) or to make the ride 6 km longer and reach the levee of the Vigenzone Canal to enjoy a nice view of the surroundings from a high point, with the Euganean Hills in the background, and this floodplain’s very interesting area, under a naturalistic point of view, before going back to Pernumia.