Colli Euganei
Just south of Padua, the Euganean Hills rise from the Veneto plain like an archipelago of green volcanic cones, dotted with vineya...
Updated 11 July 2026 · Sources: Conoscenza redazionale interna Trovido — nessuna fonte esterna consultata
Colli Euganei
Towns in the area
Discover the territoriesThe story
The story of Colli Euganei
Volcanic hills at the heart of the Veneto
The Euganean Hills rise abruptly from the plain around Padua, a group of more than eighty peaks of volcanic origin formed between 40 and 10 million years ago, when submarine eruptions and later upwellings of trachytic and basaltic magma created cones, lava domes and flows that still shape a landscape unique in the Veneto. The highest point, Monte Venda, rises above 600 metres and dominates a territory protected since 1989 by the Euganean Hills Regional Park, the first ever established in the region. Chestnut and holm-oak woods, terraced vineyards, historic trachyte quarries and small crater lakes alternate along the slopes, while villages built of local stone dot the valleys. The volcanic geology also bequeathed the thermal waters that gush at the foot of the hills, fuelling for millennia the healing vocation of this corner of the Po plain.
Abano and Montegrotto, the largest thermal basin in Europe
At the foot of the hills, Abano Terme and Montegrotto Terme together form the largest thermal spa basin in Europe, fed by an aquifer that carries rainwater fallen on the Prealps deep underground, where it is naturally heated and enriched with mineral salts during a slow subterranean journey lasting decades. Its therapeutic properties were already known in Roman times, when Aquae Patavinae drew pilgrims and the sick from across the empire; archaeological remains in Montegrotto, including a large Roman thermal complex, bear witness to that ancient history. Today dozens of spa hotels offer treatments with mud matured for months in dedicated tanks, indoor and outdoor thermal pools, motor rehabilitation programmes and wellness treatments, making the area a destination chosen both for health and for pure relaxation, in a green setting a short distance from the hills and from Padua.
Arquà Petrarca and the poet
Arquà, which has officially borne the name of its most illustrious resident since 1868, is one of Italy's most beautiful villages: a maze of stone lanes, medieval loggias and trachyte houses perched on a spur of the Euganean Hills. Francesco Petrarch spent the last years of his life here, from 1370 to 1374, in the house that can still be visited today, complete with his study, the supposed embalmed skeleton of his cat and frescoes inspired by his Canzoniere; the poet is buried in a red marble tomb in the square, in front of the church of Santa Maria. The village is also famous for jujubes, small sweet fruits grown since the Middle Ages, celebrated every October with the traditional Jujube Festival and brodo di giuggiole, a local liqueur with ancient roots.
Este and the ancient Veneti
Este, at the western foot of the hills, was one of the most important cities of the ancient Veneti people and preserves this memory in the Museo Nazionale Atestino, one of the richest archaeological museums in northern Italy: it displays funerary grave goods, votive bronzes and the famous Situla Benvenuti, a masterpiece of Veneti art from the 7th century BC decorated with scenes of daily life. The medieval town developed around the Carrarese Castle, whose crenellated walls today enclose public gardens, while the historic centre preserves Renaissance palaces and an ancient ceramics tradition, still alive in artisan workshops producing hand-painted majolica. Este is also a gateway to the southern side of the Euganean Park, amid vineyards and gentle hills towards Baone and Cinto Euganeo.
Monselice and the Seven Churches
Monselice stretches at the foot of a fortified rock that climbs in terraces up to the Frederician keep, passing through Ca' Cini Castle with its frescoed halls and the Venetian loggia commissioned by Marcantonio Loredan. From the town winds the evocative Via del Santuario delle Sette Chiese, a 16th-century devotional route commissioned by bishop Marco Cornaro on the model of Rome's basilicas, which climbs among cypresses and chapels up to the Jubilee Sanctuary of Monselice, still today a destination for pilgrimages and scenic walks. Just outside the centre stands Villa Ca' Marcello, an elegant noble residence surrounded by a centuries-old park, while the historic centre, with its arcaded square and cathedral, offers one of the finest views over the southern Euganean Hills.
The Abbey of Praglia
Hidden at the foot of Monte Lonzina, the Abbey of Praglia is a Benedictine monastery founded before the year 1000 and rebuilt between the 15th and 16th centuries in Renaissance forms, with four cloisters of rare harmony, a refectory frescoed by Zelotti and a monumental library. The monks who still live there today run a renowned book restoration workshop, among the most highly regarded in Italy, and cultivate a botanical garden of medicinal herbs following Benedictine tradition. The abbey can be visited on guided tours at weekends, a rare chance to discover a place of silence and spirituality immersed in the green of the hills, where time seems to flow to the ancient rhythm of monastic life, marked by prayer, study and manual labour.
The Garden of Valsanzibio
The Garden of Valsanzibio, commissioned by the Barbarigo family in the 17th century beside their villa, is considered one of the most important and best-preserved historic gardens in Europe, awarded first prize as Italy's most beautiful garden in 2003. The route, conceived as a symbolic journey towards knowledge, crosses a centuries-old boxwood maze, the Fish Pond of the Birds, the Fountain of the Devil's Basin and allegorical statues arranged along perspective axes that play with water and light amid fountains, small lakes and centuries-old groves. Surrounded by the woods of the Euganean Hills, the baroque garden is today a destination for visitors from around the world, admired for the harmony between plant architecture, sculpture and Renaissance hydraulic engineering, offering photogenic views in every season.
The wines of the Euganean Hills: from Fior d'Arancio to red
The volcanic soil of the Euganean Hills, mineral-rich and well drained, gives local wines a distinctive minerality that has made the area one of the most interesting wine regions in the Veneto, protected by the Colli Euganei DOC designation, which covers reds from Merlot and Cabernet, whites from Garganega and Tocai, and sparkling wines. The jewel in the crown is Fior d'Arancio DOCG, Italy's only dry, sweet or sparkling Moscato to carry this designation, made from Moscato Giallo grapes grown on the sunniest slopes and capable of releasing intense aromas of citrus and orange blossom. Dozens of family-run wineries, often directly managed, open their doors for tastings amid terraced vineyards and views of the volcanic cones, offering an authentic wine experience far from the main tourist circuits.
Hiking and nature among the hills
The Euganean Hills Regional Park offers a network of more than 500 kilometres of marked trails suited to every level, linking villages, villas, disused quarries and scenic viewpoints: the Alta Via dei Colli Euganei, in several stages, crosses the entire massif, while shorter routes climb Monte Venda, Rocca Pendice, a celebrated rock-climbing spot, or Monte della Madonna. The microclimatic variety, due to slope exposure and the volcanic nature of the soil, favours a surprising biodiversity, with more than 1,500 recorded plant species, wild orchids, downy-oak woods and relict holm-oak groves of Mediterranean origin, plus fauna including badgers, squirrels and numerous birds of prey. The trails can also be covered by mountain bike and on horseback, with several rental points in the main villages.
When to go
The Euganean Hills can be visited enjoyably all year round, but the ideal seasons for hiking and strolling among vineyards and villages are spring, when wild orchids and wild cherry trees bloom, and autumn, coloured by chestnut woods and enlivened by the grape harvest and the jujube and new-wine festivals. Summer is the season for open-air thermal pools, the panoramic pools of the Abano and Montegrotto hotels and evenings in villages with events and markets; winter, quieter, is the perfect time for a stay devoted to pure thermal relaxation, with hot mud treatments and wellness therapies, or for visiting museums and abbeys without the summer crowds. In every season, the contrast between the green hills and the surrounding plain produces an ever-changing landscape.
Experiences not to miss
- Un bagno rigenerante nelle terme di Abano o Montegrotto con fanghi maturati
- A regenerating bath in the thermal spas of Abano or Montegrotto with matured mud
- Un baño regenerador en las termas de Abano o Montegrotto con barros madurados
- Un bain régénérant dans les thermes d'Abano ou Montegrotto avec des boues mûries
- Ein regenerierendes Bad in den Thermen von Abano oder Montegrotto mit gereiftem Schlamm
- Um banho regenerador nas termas de Abano ou Montegrotto com lamas maturadas
- 在阿巴诺或蒙泰格罗托温泉享受一次以熟化泥浆疗养的身心焕新之浴
- アバーノまたはモンテグロットの温泉で、熟成した泥を使った癒やしの入浴を楽しむ
- حمام مُنعش في حمامات أبانو أو مونتيغروتو الحرارية بطين مُنضج
- आबानो या मोंतेग्रोत्तो के थर्मल स्पा में परिपक्व मिट्टी से एक तरोताज़ा स्नान
- Оздоровительная ванна в термах Абано или Монтегротто с созревшей грязью
- Ένα αναζωογονητικό λουτρό στα ιαματικά λουτρά του Abano ή του Montegrotto με ωριμασμένη λάσπη
- Një banjë rigjeneruese në termat e Abanos apo Montegrottos me baltë të pjekur
To see
What to see in Colli Euganei
Routes · Trovido Route
Routes in Colli Euganei
Jobs · JobFlow
