ITINERARY INFORMATION
Starting point: Riviera San Pietro, Oriago di Mira
Point of arrival: Riviera San Pietro, Oriago di Mira
Difficulty: easy
Length of the route: 33.3 km
Duration of the route: 2:30 h
Itinerary Description:
Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, traffic through Mira was extremely busy: not only trade routes to and from Padua passed through here, but also regular daytime and nighttime passenger services, along with private gondolas whose cabin (“felze”) discreetly concealed members of the patricians class from the eyes of curious onlookers.
This cycling route connects small riverside localities (all hamlets in the municipality of Mira) along canals and rivers of the Venetian mainland.
The itinerary strarts at the gangway (“passerella”) in Oriago, the pedestrian bridge over the Naviglio Brenta in front of the Santa Maria Maddalena Church. Proceed east in the direction of Malcontenta, keeping the Naviglio Brenta on your left. Once in Malcontenta, take a moment to admire Villa Foscari, known as “La Malcontenta”, the only villa by Palladio in Riviera de Brenta and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Continue toward Dogaletto, once home to the strategically located Benedictine monastery of Saints Hilary and Benedict, founded by the monks of San Servolo between the Lagoon and the mainland.
After passing Gambarare and Piazza Vecchia, we take the right bank of the Canale Novissimo, a canal dug by the Venetians to regulate the waters, which will lead us to Mira Centro. We then cycle along the Naviglio Brenta until we reach Mira Porte: we cross the small square where the ancient locks once stood, cross Parco Valmarana and admire the Barchessa Valmarana and, on the opposite bank, Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari.
The final stretch will lead us back to Riviera San Pietro in Oriago, the starting point.
