Page 145 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

NOR THEAST IT AL Y  143

THE VENETO

AND FRIULI

The Veneto is a region of tremendous contrasts,
encompassing both the breathtaking natural beauty
of the Dolomites, Lake Garda (Italy’s largest lake) and
the rolling Euganean Hills, and the man-made delights of
magnificent ancient cities such as Verona, Vicenza and Padua.
Neighbouring Friuli-Venezia Giulia lines the border with Slovenia
to the east, taking in the Carnic Hills in the north, the Roman
town of Aquileia and the bustling Adriatic port of Trieste.
The Romans built frontier posts on this agriculture, commerce and the spoils of
fertile land of silt deposits, and these war paid for the beautification of these
survive today as the cities of Vicenza, cities through the building of Renaissance
Padua, Verona and Treviso. Strategically palaces and public buildings, many
placed at the hub of the empire’s road designed by the Veneto’s great architect,
network, the cities prospered under Andrea Palladio. His palazzi and villas are
Roman rule, but suffered in the wave of telling symbols of the leisured existence
Germanic invasions of the 5th century AD. once enjoyed by the area’s aristocrats.
The region’s fortunes revived under Today the Veneto is a thriving wine
the benign rule of the Venetian empire. exporter, textile producer and agricultural
The medieval cities of the Veneto lay centre, and Friuli is a focus for new
on important trade routes such as the technology, while remaining largely
Serenissima, the road connecting the agricultural. Both regions are popular
flourishing port cities of Venice and tourist destinations, despite lying a little
Genoa, and the Brenner Pass, used by in the shadow of Venice, and boast
commercial travellers crossing the Alps an abundant and enchanting variety
from northern Europe. Wealth from of attractions.

People strolling around Piazza Bra in Verona, with the Roman arena on the right
The Renaissance Alpini Bridge by Palladio at Bassano del Grappa in the Veneto

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