A romantic weekend filled with art and nature in Mezzano

Leave your car in the car park at the edge of the village and start exploring Mezzano on foot. The breathtaking sense of peace and quiet is only broken up by the water flowing in the stone fountains, which are wonderfully refreshing on hot summer mornings. The first thing that you will notice are the famous works of art known as “Cataste & Canzei”. They originally developed from the creative ways in which the locals prepared their wood piles for the winter and they have become a source of inspiration for artists from all over the world.

As you stroll through the village, you might smell the fragrance of wood emanating from the workshop of Gianluca Zeni, who uses the material to make topical, modern works with an appealingly ancient feel.

Entrancing aromas also fill the air at the Lucian café and pastry shop just outside the village, which is a great place for a morning coffee break with a slice of strudel.

After an invigorating snack, put on your boots and grab your backpack, water bottle and windbreaker: we go to explore Val Noana, an uncontaminated place off the usual tourist routes.

Our advice for a beautiful excursion in the woods is to follow the “Sentiero degli Abeti Giganti” - Trail of the Giant Firs; here, red and silver firs, but also beech and yew trees, have been silent guardians of Val Noana for centuries. The trail has two variants of well-signposted panoramic loop routes: the shortest measures only 2.7 kilometres and the other, more challenging, 7.3 kilometres. What we propose is the short itinerary, which starts near Casina Forestale di Valpiana, just 6 kilometres from the town of Mezzano.

For lunch, upon returning from the excursion, we recommend a tasty stop at the Fonteghi Hiking Hut, which offers typical and genuine dishes.

After this beautiful walk and a regenerating lunch, before returning to Mezzano, you cannot miss the Tibetan Bridge of Val de Riva, 70 metres long and almost 30 metres high over the Giasinozza stream, and the new panoramic walkways with a panoramic view of Lake Noana and over the gorges of rock and water, where the most adventurous can try their hand at canyoning together with the “Aquile” Alpine Guides of San Martino.

To reach both panoramic points, the routes start right near the Fonteghi Hiking Hut.

After a tasty breakfast, seek out one of the red chairs that are dotted all over the village. Pick up the bell on top of it, ring it and wait for a few minutes. Soon a “medanesc” (one of the local people) will appear and happily tell you a few stories about the village.

If you want to become a fully fledged “medanesc” yourself, pay a visit to the little Tabìa del Rico museum and learn what life was like in the village in the past.

To end this weekend in the best possible way, all you have to do is treat yourself to another immersion in nature: the one among the woods and meadows overlooking Mezzano, in the Prati di San Giovanni area. It is an easy walk, with beautiful and unexpected views of Pale di San Martino, the Cimonega Group and Vette Feltrine, highly recommended especially during the foliage period. We start from Pòit, a town that is about 10 minutes by car from the town, along the road that goes up to San Giovanni.

The beautiful trail starts here, signposted and equipped for tourist use with some indications that offer interesting historical-cultural insights; do not forget the Church of San Giovanni Battista, dating back to 1514, a place of worship for the inhabitants of Mezzano. For lunch, however, we recommend reinterpreted traditional cuisine offered by the Caltena Hiking Hut.