An itinerary to discover Valpolicella also from a cultural and not only landscape point of view, a way to get in touch with a Valpolicella that reveals its architectural jewels touching several centuries, this is our cultural itinerary.

We start from Tenuta Santa Maria di Gaetano Bertani, located in the heart of the Classic Valpolicella area in Novaie ad Arbizzano.
The villa was commissioned to the Veronese architect Adriano Cristofali by the Fattori family around 1735, the building developed alongside the pre-existing sixteenth-century cellar, and had the purpose of giving an aristocratic touch to the building having a clear self-celebratory purpose. It was then sold incomplete to the Mosconi family in 1769 who completed its construction by adding a magnificent English-style romantic park as well as expanding the wine business, which became known throughout Northern Italy.
Absolutely not to be missed is a visit to the Muse hall, the park and the cellar.
The park faithfully reproduces the fashion of the moment of the romantic garden. Inside there is in fact a small lake, fed with springs in the property, with a central island. The islet, adorned with exotic trees, can be reached via a wooden bridge. Inside the park, a coffee house inspired by the construction of northern Europe.
Here there is also an icehouse built at the end of the eighteenth century and used until the last century.

We take the car and continue our itinerary arriving at the Pieve di San Floriano, in San Pietro in Cariano, and we pass from a construction of the 700 to a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture.

The church that can be admired today, built on the remains of an ancient Roman cemetery, dates back to the Romanesque period (11th-12th century), but there are sources that tell of the presence of a Lombard parish church in the same place as early as the year 905. restoration works have been carried out over the centuries, especially in the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries in the internal part, causing the progressive disappearance of its Romanesque character.

Only restorations that took place in the last hundred years, necessary to restore solidity to the almost dilapidated church and now on the verge of ruin, have brought to light the original characteristics of the Romanesque period. Noteworthy is the majestic bell tower, whose base is in light stone. The rest of the tower develops in height in alternating rows of tuff and terracotta blocks, ending with the only terracotta at the level of the bell cell.

Let's move on now to see another sacred building: the parish church of San Giorgio in Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, also called deception, so defined because it seems easy to reach and close, but in reality it is located in a perched position and therefore not so easy to access for those who are lazy!

Here, in addition to visiting the historical building, it is a must to stop on the panoramic terrace of San Giorgio to admire the wonderful panorama!

San Giorgio was an important religious center already in pre-Roman times and where the parish church stands today, in pre-Roman and Roman, there was a temple dedicated to the Sun of which few imposing remains are clearly visible in the churchyard. The current building dates back to the 8th century, making it one of the oldest places of worship still in use throughout the Veronese area. Unlike other city churches, San Giorgio has maintained its austerity and archaic beauty. The Lombard ciborium is worthy of note, a sort of finely carved stone canopy with Celtic knots and zoomorphic and vegetal figures.

Now let's head to Volargne in Dolcè, along the banks of the Adige and let's talk about a Villa: Villa del Bene. The Villa dates back to the fifteenth century and enlarged by the Bene family in the sixteenth and represents one of the best examples of sixteenth-century architecture of the Veneto.

Beyond the sixteenth-century portal attributed to the architect and urban planner Michele Sanmicheli, you find yourself inside the first courtyard called Sunday which gives access to the noble and oldest part of the Villa. Subsequently there is the courtyard of the well, the spatial center of gravity of the villa and finally a park.

Unique are the frescoes found inside the Villa, which include the stories of the Apocalypse in the central room, stories of the Old and New Testaments in the three side rooms and in the loggia a complex plot of pagan and hermetic subjects. Of the paintings, not entirely clarified, it is attributed to Domenico Brusasorzi and to the brothers Giovan Francesco and Giovanni Caroto. The private chapel includes six ovals painted with the quick and light touch of Rococo painters.

And at this point enjoy a nice walk along the banks of the Adige and savor the diversity of the landscape in this corner of Valpolicella.