Bassano del Grappa
The ideal town for tourists seeking natural beauty and important works of art. Situated on the banks of the Brenta river, in a strategic position between Vicenza, Padua and Treviso, the city boasts a solid tradition of commercial and artisan trade. There are indeed numerous ceramics factories with many quality brands. Bassano is also known for traditional cultivation of white asparagus, but above all for the prestigious art of distilling grappa.
Bassano is a city with a rich and varied artistic and cultural heritage. Its historic old centre is full of interesting piazzas, churches, towers, palazzos and monuments that developed around an ancient mediaeval centre from around 1000 AD, which grew up on Santa Maria hill, where the castle and ancient Pieve di Santa Maria, the city cathedral, stand.
Despite spontaneously giving itself up to Venice, under whose rule it remained from 1404 to 1797, the city has never been dominated by the artistic styles imposed by the Republic, adopting a way of expressing itself that was entirely unique in terms of town planning. Spaces, above all interior ones, are in fact designed around very ancient, previously existing models. The specific addition of “del Grappa” came after the tragic events of the First World War, which saw Bassano, overshadowed by the 1776 metre bulk of Cima Grappa, become the protagonist, as point of extreme strategic resistance, the last bastion of the homeland and the location of the resolution of conflict.
The strategic position of Bassano placed it, over the centuries, at the centre of bitter struggles between nobles and powerful figures since time long ago. Nevertheless, the city was always able to maintain a certain cultural and artistic independence which was unleashed in refined forms of craftsmanship: including valuable traditional ceramics, the art of distilling, goldsmiths, wrought iron, cabinet making, weaving and, last but not least, etching, printing and the Remondini publishing house, which made Bassano famous the world over.
Starting with Viale dei Martiri, honouring the victims of the war, it hugs the river that flows under the Ponte Vecchio, a majestic construction. The wooden bridge over the Brenta river is in fact the symbol of the city. It was rebuilt several times, always respecting the original Palladian design of 1569. Going up the steep Via Gamba, the main street of the mediaeval town home to factories, spinning mills and weaving workshops, you reach Castello Superiore, the original nucleus of the city, probably built by the Bishops of Vicenza in the 10th century, to defend the city against the Hungarian invasions. After visiting the Duomo, built to a design based on the ancient Pieve di Santa Maria in Colle church, and using the bell tower from one of the castle towers, head towards the mediaeval village of Margnan, the manufacturing hub that used the river to power its flour mills, of which little trace is left.
Bassano del Grappa can be reached on foot by taking a lovely walk about 12 km on the level, from the Caves of Oliero to the Ponte Vecchio.