- Fauna project
- SPA Management Plan
There are ancient traces of the Veneti tribe in the Euganean Hills and such traces are visible. A large number of artefacts documenting the history of this area, from prehistoric times to the Roman era, are preserved in the Atestino National Museum in Este.
The oldest traces, discovered in the areas of Monte della Madonna and Mount Venda, can be dated back to the Paleolithic period and consist of manmade flint objects. Important pottery finds date from the Neolithic period (late fourth millennium b.c.), discovered in large quantities near Castelnuovo. Weapons, tools, decorative ornaments and clothing dating back to the Bronze Age (2000 b.c.), proving the existence of a marsh village, were excavated near Costa lake, in Arquà Petrarca. The Romans began settling in the area in 200 b.c. With the construction of a road network, they greatly encouraged the expansion of settlements. The Via Annia, which broke off from the Via Emilia at Legnago and headed towards Aquileia, crosses Monselice, one of the boroughs in the park's territory.
During the Middle Ages, the Euganean Hills witnessed a profusion of castles, churches and fortifications, thanks to their commanding position.
In the early fifteenth century, the area became part of the territory of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and so began the construction of magnificent homes for the Venetian aristocracy. Valsanzibio, Luvigliano and Valnogaredo still boast grand examples of the villa movement. The nineteenth century - which began under the aegis of Napoleon and ended with the area's annexation to the newly founded Kingdom of Italy - was a time that saw a significant rise in the local population and a constant exploitation of the area, with the beginning of mining activities on an industrial scale. Environmental conservation and landscape protection began in the 1970s with the gradual closure of quarries, which saw maximum implementation in 1989 with the foundation of the Regional Park of the Euganean Hills.
Art And Culture, Leafing Through... The Euganean Hills
'If only I could show you the second Helicon I have prepared for you and the muses in the Euganean Hills! I am sure you'd never want to leave.'
Giorgio Bassani (1916-2000), the author of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and certainly more famous as a novelist than as a poet, wrote a poem in honour of the area: Monselice consists of a collection of poems entitled L'Alba ai Vetri ('Dawn at the Windows', 1963). Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938) in his account of the Euganean Hills in Il fuoco ('Fire', 1900) is not particularly true-to-life as he disregards the wild and rugged side of the area in preference for a gentle, sensual image.
Last but not least, Antonio Fogazzaro (1842-1911) describes the area in the second chapter of Piccolo Mondo Moderno ('The Man of the World', 1901), dedicating almost an entire passage to the abbey of Praglia.