Welcome to Italy

History

Colognola ai Colli is situated along the “Via Postumia”, the great consular road that joined Genova and Aquileia, the main Roman harbours of Northern Italy.
During the Roman Age, Colognola was a very important town, as demonstrated by a lot of ruins, such as those of a villa, some graves and 21 latin inscriptions.
We can admire some of these remains in Villa Trespidi - nowadays “La Rosa e il Leone” - and at Villa Cavalli–Carminati: engraved and sculptured stones, cippus and columns.
Since the Roman period, in the hills, wine and olive plantations were predominant, from those times on, this land has been producing “Reticum”, an excellent wine, mentioned by Strabone, Plinio and Marziale.
Here, in 1796, the Napoleon's First Italian Campaign occured and Colognola battle is well known as one of the rare defeats of the young General.

The home

"La Rosa e il Leone is hard to find, hidden behind a high wall and tall iron gate at the edge of the village of Colognola ai Colli - but when the gate creaks open you catch the first glimpse of a romantic, over-grown garden, filled with trees and columns and ruins and flowers, and then you discover that the garden is shared by two houses, in one of which the owners live and the other is occupied by their guests.
One evening, Valeria, told me their history.
Her father had bought the house that we stayed in as a place to escape the women of his family - one wife, three daughters, a female cat - and immerse himself in his books. When his wife protested, he bought the house next door and created for her this elaborate garden.
After his death, Valeria stayed on here not knowing what to do with his house until she hits upon the notion of offering its three spacious bedrooms to those looking for somewhere interesting to stay.
So we slept in luxury between the finest fine linen sheets, took breakfast overlooking the garden and explored the large house from top to bottom...
I knew that the name of the place was intended to honour the sisters' parents (his Lion of Veneto, her Rose of Lombardy) so when I found a book, La Rosa e il Leone, lying on a desk, I picked it up expecting to learn more me about the family's history. But instead I found myself reading about Rosa Luxemburg and Leon Trotsky, and began to realise that Valeria was a frustrated revolutionary..."

written by Simon Loftus

Surroundings

Colognola ai Colli is a “Città del Vino”, within the production district of two of the main Italian DOC, the Soave and the Valpolicella.
However, the southern territory is dedicated to the sole production of Soave wine, so that it has been included into the "Strada del Vino Soave".
Besides the great range of vineyards, the ancient olive plants come out in the hills. Almost by hand and biologically cultivated, they produce the "Olio Extra Vergine Veneto DOP", well known as a high quality product.
Thanks to the proximity of Verona, only 16 km away, a number of aristocratic families settled their own country houses in this area.
Santa Maria alla Pieve Church, built in the XIth century on the ruins of a temple dedicated to the god Mercurio, is a Romanesque jewel not to be missed!

VeronaA city to discover. Or rediscover

UNESCO World Heritage, Verona is not only "Arena", with its famous Opera season and a rich program of events, or the myth of Romeo and Juliet, from Shakespeare's masterpiece.
Verona has a unique architectonic heritage: a real "open air" museum.
Roman and medieval works, fine buildings from the Renaissance, the Baroque and the XIXth century: the entire history of Italian architecture is well represented here.
Many churches, of extraordinary beauty, are full of wonderful frescos, paintings, sculptures and tarsias.
A curious tourist, walking alongside the bank of Adige river, or through the narrow streets of the historic centre, will find a city full of culture, but also of restaurants under the lead of famous chef, historical "osterie" and handcraft shops.

SoaveNot only wines...

Soave, one of the venetian "walled town" lays down vineyards from whom blanc wine "Soave" takes its name and origins. A Medieval Castle (from the X^th Century) dominates the town that is surronded by walls still undamaged, 2 Km long, and spaced out by 24 towers. The defensive wall, built in 1369, hold the historical center of this town, full of remarkable buildings that reveal its own history.

BolcaUnique prehistoric treasure

“World capital“ for fossils, Bolca reveals to visitors from around the world extraordinary fish and plants fossils, of circa 50 milions years.
Excellent destination for people fond of palaentology, it offers unique fish, plants and invertebrates specimens, for their variety and preservation; they have been studying for 500 years by the most prestigious natural sciences universities in Italy and worldwide.

FasoliWines from organic farming

Our story is the story of a family that has deep roots in the area of Verona. Since 1925 we have been producing wine, since 1984 the organic one, since 2006 we started using biodynamic practices, going on from knowledge passed down over generations to modern techniques.
Our winery refuses to use chemical pesticides and prefers agricultural practices that respect nature, reinforcing the plants and revitalising the soil in order to encourage the biodiversity the vines need.
“We are committed to treating our land with the utmost care because we are conscious to be only caretaker”.

Nearby citiesAuthor's portraits

VICENZA – PALLADIO (1508 – 1580)
“Beauty will derive from a graceful shape and the relationship of the whole to the parts, and of the parts among themselves and to the whole, because buildings must appear to be like complete and well-defined bodies, of which one member matches another and all the members are necessary for what is required.” (A. Palladio) 

PADOVA - GIOTTO (1267 ca – 1337)
“...whose genius was of such excellence that with his art and brush or crayon he painted anything in Nature, the mother and mover of all things under the perpetual turning of the heavens, and painted them so like that they seemed not so much likenesses as the things in themselves; whereby it often happened that men's visual sense was deceived, and they thought that to be real which was only painted.” (G. Boccaccio, DECAMERONE)

VENEZIA – CANALETTO (1697 – 1768)
“Pittor di vedute, al quale e nella intelligenza e nel gusto e nella verità, pochi tra gli scorsi e nessuno tra i presenti si può trovar che si accostino” (A.M.Zanetti)

MANTOVA – MANTEGNA (1431-1506 )
"...he showed that he knew how to take the good from living and natural objects as well as from those created by art. But with all this, Andrea always believed that good classical statues were more perfect and possessed more beautiful parts than is shown by nature, because those excellent masters, according to what he judged and what he has seen in those statues, had taken the perfection of nature from many living persons..." (G.Vasari, LE VITE)