Sona amid moraine hills, trails and cultural heritage

Sona combines the landscape of the moraine hills with vineyards, olive groves and cherry trees.

Seven trails with different profiles

The “Cammina San Giorgio” project comprises seven routes suitable for pedestrians and cyclists in San Giorgio in Salici. The accompanying brochure describes trails of varying difficulty and length. They include both routes with steep climbs and quiet unpaved paths that often lead to panoramic views. The range of landscapes also includes the Tunnel dell’Amore. It runs between two arms of the Tione River through wooded hillsides and has a pleasant microclimate.

Towers, churches and historical evidence

The 14th-century Torre Scaligera stands on a 200-metre-high hill and is 17 metres tall. It formerly served as an observation point. In the Church of San Giorgio Martire, the bell tower was built in 1788 according to a design by the architect Trezza; it has a peal of thirteen bells. The façade fresco by Orazio Celeghin, completed in 1933, depicts Saint George on horseback killing a dragon with his lance. Further sacred landmarks span several centuries. The parish church of San Giacomo e Santa Giustina preserves paintings from the 17th to the 19th century, as well as a movable polychrome wooden crucifix from the early 16th century. The origins of the Church of San Quirico e Giulitta date back to the 15th century. During the plague of 1630, the Dominicans used it as a hospital. The church also contains a Crucifixion fresco attributed to the school of Liberale da Verona. The Pieve di Santa Giustina is dated to around the year 1000. It was built in the Romanesque style from masonry stones made of moraine material arranged in a herringbone pattern. The parish church of San Salvatore contains marble altars and late Baroque stucco work. The “Arbor Redemptionis” fresco depicts the history of salvation and covers an area of 240 square metres.

Museums and themes spanning natural history and everyday life

The “Attilio Fedrigo” Museo Paleontologico e dell’Origine del Territorio displays several hundred fossils from Italy and abroad. The exhibition provides an overview of the development of life forms from the earliest eras, including the Palaeozoic more than 500 million years ago, through to a period several thousand years ago. The Museo Storico Baita Monte Baldo is organised around the themes of peasant civilisation and wartime. The Baita Monte Baldo Historical Museum also includes a mushroom exhibition and a permanent photography exhibition.

Villas, farmsteads and viewpoints

Villa Belvedere stands on a hill with 360-degree views stretching from Lake Garda to the Berici Hills and the Lessini Mountains. Villa Koelliker, also known as Giarola Previtali, lies on the Sona hillside overlooking Verona in a large park with numerous plant species and a pond. It is also called Villa Eire; in Località Giarola, it was built in 1892 by Giuseppe Previtali as a summer residence near an old chapel dating from 1703. Villa Trevisani Calderara is a villa built in the 19th century in a park with centuries-old trees. La Guglia is a round tower built at the same time as Villa Trevisani Calderara and associated with views over the surrounding area. Villa Consolaro Turata in the centre of Sona was a Jesuit monastery until the Napoleonic suppression. Villa Spolverini Schizzi Fiorini Recchi preserves the only remaining brolo of the many that once existed in the municipality. Rural architecture is also part of the local landscape. Colombaron is a 16th-century rural farmstead on the eastern slopes of Sona, named after its large dovecote tower. In the hills of San Giorgio, rural farmsteads lie among the cultivated areas; in addition to residential and farm buildings, many were equipped with dovecotes or watchtowers. Ca’ Vecia is a rural farmstead in Cavecchie dating back to the 16th century and is now used as accommodation.

Moraine landscape and regional agriculture

Beside the Church of San Rocco lies an erratic boulder that arrived there during the last Ice Age. The church itself stands in Località Fornelli on a meadow shaded by centuries-old trees. According to tradition, it was built in 1511 in gratitude for surviving the plague; when clearing the fields, the inhabitants used moraine pebbles recovered for this purpose. Beside San Rocco stands the Bagolar, also known as Pirlar. It belongs to the species Celtis australis, is described as a national botanical monument of the area, and has a circumference of 2.85 metres and a height of 19 metres. In Palazzolo di Sona, the Colle d’Oro sul Lago farm on the moraine hills includes an olive grove, a small vineyard, a kiwi orchard and a rose garden.

The following locations are also available for further destination selection: Borghetto, Beccacivetta-Azzano, Malcesine, San Giovanni Lupatoto, Bonferraro, San Rocco, Castelletto Di Brenzone and Pedemonte are also available.

For the higher-level travel overview: Verona.