Lessinia 📖 Wikipedia

Lessinia
Views of Lessinia. From top to bottom: winter view of upper Lessinia with the ski slopes of San Giorgio, Ponte di Veja, the village of Giazza, a flower in the Fraselle valley, summer pastures, and a typical Lessinian stone building with lastame slabs.
Highest point
Coordinates	45°41′2.05″N 11°13′0.31″E / 45.6839028°N 11.2167528°E / 45.6839028; 11.2167528
Geography
Country	Italy
Provinces	Province of Verona, Province of Vicenza and Autonomous Province of Trento
Parent range	Venetian Prealps

Lessinia, also known as the Lessini Mountains, is a mountainous plateau in the Venetian Prealps of northern Italy, located mainly in the Province of Verona and partly in the Province of Vicenza and the Autonomous Province of Trento. Part of the area is protected within the Lessinia Regional Nature Park. It is bordered to the north by the Ronchi Valley and the Carega Group, to the east by the Leogra Valley, to the south by the course of the Adige River and the upper Veronese plain, and to the west by the Lagarina Valley. Its main elevations generally range between 1,500 and 1,800 m above sea level.

The area is characterised by open high pastures, malghe, wooded valleys, karst landforms, fossil deposits, caves, Cimbrian cultural heritage and vernacular architecture based on local stone slabs. Its landscape was shaped by the long interaction between geology, pastoralism, forestry, stone quarrying, seasonal alpine grazing and rural settlement.^[1][2]

Evidence of human presence in Lessinia dates back to prehistoric times. The availability of flint, caves and rock shelters favoured early settlement, while the spread of castellieri, small fortified hilltop settlements, is attested from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Before the arrival of the Romans, between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the area was inhabited by various peoples of Rhaetian origin, including the Arusnates. In Roman times the lower plateau was largely wooded, while the higher esplanades were used for summer grazing.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the territory experienced a marked demographic decline, which began to reverse only in the early 11th century. From the Carolingian age until the rise of the communal age, much of Lessinia was under the control of the Veronese Church. This dominion entered into crisis with the growing power of the wool merchants, among whom the Della Scala family, future lords of Verona, became prominent urban representatives. In 1287 Bishop Bartolomeo della Scala allowed settlers of German origin to settle in the area of present-day Roverè Veronese, forming the first nucleus of the Cimbrians of Lessinia.

After the Devotion of Verona to Venice in 1405, the plateau came under the rule of the Republic of Venice, which granted its inhabitants privileges in exchange for guarding the northern border. The arrival of Napoleon brought major changes in the administrative structure of the area, some of which were maintained under later Austrian rule. The years following the annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy were difficult for the local population, which suffered from famine and epidemics. Spared from the main events of World War I and World War II, the higher Lessinian municipalities experienced gradual depopulation in the second half of the 20th century, as many inhabitants moved toward urban areas.

Historical names used in Veronese documents for this territory are Luxino, Lixino, Lesinio, Lissinorum and Lissinia, generally with the meaning of "land used and prepared for pastures". The earliest known document in which the term appears is a deed dated 7 May 814, in which the gastald Ildemanno of Verona donated "campo meo in Luxino ad Alpes facienda, una cum capilo pasquo" to the Veronese monastery of Santa Maria in Organo.^[3] The name may also have originated from the Veronese dialect expression le sime, meaning peaks, or from the Venetian lisso or lissio, a channel of beams used for sliding timber.^[4]

Enclosed to the north by the deep Val di Ronchi and the Carega Group, bounded to the east by the Val Leogra, to the southeast by the hills of Monteviale,^[5] to the southwest by the course of the Adige and the upper Veronese plain, and to the west by the Val Lagarina, Lessinia forms an almost self-contained unit within the Venetian Prealps.

It is furrowed by numerous valleys that descend from the high pastures and fan out toward Verona and the plain. Proceeding from west to east are the valleys of Fumane, Marano and Negrar, which together form the historically defined area of Valpolicella, followed by the Valpantena, Squaranto, Mezzane, d'Illasi, Tramigna, d'Alpone, Chiampo and Agno valleys. Its western heights fall within the Venetian Prealps, with peaks between 1,500 and 1,800 m, while the Carega group to the northeast exceeds 2,200 m. The central range lies mostly between 1,000 and 1,300 m. Among its peaks are Corno d'Aquilio, Monte Tomba and Cima Trappola.

The landscape of the High Pastures of Lessinia has been officially recognized as an agrarian landscape and included in the National Register of Historic Rural Landscapes, prepared by Decree No. 17070 of 19 November 2012 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies.^[6][7] The Lessinia Regional Park covers 10,201 hectares and extends between about 200 and 1,990 metres above sea level in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza.^[1] The higher plateau is marked by rounded ridges and open pastureland, while steeper slopes and valley sides preserve forests of hornbeam, beech, silver fir and spruce.^[1] This alternation between woodland, vaj or canyon-like valleys, meadows, pastures and rural settlements is one of the defining features of the Lessinian landscape.

The karstification of the limestone rocks that form much of Lessinia has produced an irregular and partly discontinuous hydrographic network. During the Quaternary, stream erosion and glacial or periglacial phases contributed to carving the valleys that dissect the plateau. Throughout the area there are numerous springs, both temporary ones related to snowmelt and rainfall and permanent ones, which flow mainly at the outlet of the valleys between the upper and lower plains. The most notable are found on the Trentino side in the Ronchi valley, about 11 km long and crossed by the Ala stream, and in Val Bona, while on the Veronese side those in Val d'Illasi and between Velo and Val di Mazzano are among the most substantial.^[8]

At Fumane flows the progno of the same name, progno being a Veronese dialect term for a stream. After originating from Mount San Giovanni and Mount Loffa, it travels about 14 km through the Progni valley, receiving water from numerous tributaries.^[9] The Marano di Valpolicella valley, about 7 km long, is crossed by the Marano stream, which comes from Vajo Camporal and rises at Mount Noroni. Further east, the 11-km-long Negrar di Valpolicella valley is traversed by the stream of the same name, which originates from the Fane stream and has among its tributaries the Fiamene, Prun, Mazzano, San Ciriaco, Sieresol, Pozzetta, Quena and Cancello streams. In the lowlands, the Negrar and Marano streams join and flow into the Adige River.^[10]

Near Verona, the Quinzano and Avesa streams reach the plain and then flow into the Adige.^[11] East of Verona is the great Valpantena valley, oriented north-south and extending for about 26 km with a catchment area of 150 km². To the north it divides into the Alta Valpantena and the Vajo dell'Anguilla.^[12] The stream of Valpantena, after passing through the area of Borgo Venezia, flows into the Adige west of San Michele Extra.^[13] Further east, the Vajo Squaranto originates from Cima Trappola and joins the Vajo Illasi after receiving several tributaries, including the Fibbio and Marcellise streams, at San Martino Buon Albergo, then ending in the Adige before Belfiore.^[14]

The Val d'Illasi, about 22 km long, bisects the Lessinia plateau and extends into the Carega group. It is very narrow in its northernmost part, with a width of just under 200 metres at Selva di Progno, before opening near Illasi to about 3 km. Near Giazza the Fraselle valley opens in a west-east direction and is crossed by the stream of the same name.^[15] The last major valley in the province of Verona is the Val d'Alpone, crossed by the Alpone torrent for about 32 km. Originating at Mount Purga, it ends in the Adige 7 km after passing through San Bonifacio.^[16] In the province of Vicenza, the Val del Chiampo extends for about 31 km and is crossed by the Chiampo torrent, which also ends in the Adige after receiving numerous streams whose headwaters are located at about 1,650 m above sea level.^[17]

Climatically, Lessinia can be divided into three belts: a humid temperate one, sometimes tending toward a sub-Mediterranean climate and allowing olive cultivation, from the foothills to about 700 m; a fresh temperate one between 700 m and 1,500 m; and a cold temperate one above 1,500 m. Average temperatures range between 5 °C and 13 °C, with an average decrease of about 0.5 °C for every 100 m of altitude gained. January is the coldest month, with average lows often below -1 °C, while the hottest period is between July and August, when highs reach between 22 °C and 29 °C. Relative humidity ranges between 50% and 70%.^[18][19]

Average precipitation of about 850 mm is recorded at the valley floor and increases significantly northward. The lowest rainfall occurs in January and February, with a secondary low between July and September, except for August, when convective activity can increase rainfall. The highest rainfall occurs in October and November, with a secondary maximum between April and June.^[18] Snow, more frequent in the central and eastern zone, falls in winter between December and mid-February and generally does not exceed 80 centimetres on average.^[20]

Climate tables for Velo Veronese at 1,074 m a.s.l. and Grezzana at 267 m a.s.l. are given as examples:

The prevailing winds blow from west to east, while those from the north are largely stopped by the major elevations. Minor currents and breezes move from lower to higher areas, producing condensation and cloud formation in the higher parts of Lessinia.^[21]

Lessinia has a moderate level of seismicity and lies within the broader seismic framework of the southern Alpine margin. Its earthquakes are not related to volcanic activity, but to crustal deformation and fault systems affecting the Lessini-Schio sector and neighbouring areas.^[22]

The Illasi valley is one of the historically most significant seismic areas of Lessinia. The earthquake of 7 June 1891, located in the Valle d'Illasi, caused strong damage near the epicentre, with an estimated epicentral intensity of VIII-IX on the MCS scale and a moment magnitude of about 5.7; damaging effects were recorded across much of Lessinia.^[22] Other damaging events were also located in the Illasi valley in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[22]

The wider Veronese area was also affected by earlier major historical earthquakes, including the earthquake of 1117, although the source and location of that medieval event remain debated in the seismological literature.^[22]

Lessinia is one of the major karst landscapes of the Venetian Prealps. Its limestones and marly limestones have produced caves, sinkholes, collapse dolines, natural arches, underground drainage systems, rock shelters and deeply incised vaj. The same geological structure also explains the presence of fossiliferous formations, stone quarries and stratified slabs used in vernacular architecture. The exploitation of stone materials in Lessinia dates back to protohistoric times, while the extraction of Pietra di Prun, or lastame, is documented from the Iron Age and is associated with the Scaglia Rossa formation of Late Cretaceous age.^[23]

Among the best-known karst features is the Ponte di Veja, near Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, a large natural bridge formed from the remains of a collapsed cave system. It consists of an arch about 40 metres long, with a minimum thickness of about 9 metres and a width of about 20 metres.^[24] The site is also associated with prehistoric occupation in nearby rock shelters and caves.^[24]

Near Camposilvano, in the municipality of Velo Veronese, the Valle delle Sfingi is a small karst valley about 800 metres long, known for isolated limestone monoliths shaped by erosion and weathering. The forms are produced by the different resistance of the Rosso Ammonitico and the Oolite di San Vigilio formations.^[25]

Close to the Geopaleontological Museum of Camposilvano is the Covolo di Camposilvano, a large collapse cavity that can be reached by a stepped path of about 500 metres from the museum. It is a karst cavity more than 80 metres deep, formed by the collapse of the vault of an ancient underground cave in the Rosso Ammonitico formation.^[26][27]

Other caves and cavities include the Grotta di Monte Capriolo in Roverè Veronese, also known as Grotta di Roverè 1000 or Grotta del Sogno. The cave opens at 1,005 metres above sea level, was first explored in 1957, opened to the public in 1972 and has a total development of about 260 metres with a vertical difference of 50 metres.^[28] The Buso del Vallon, near San Giorgio and Castel Gaibana, is a karst shaft registered by the Speleological Centre of Verona at an entrance altitude of 1,711 metres, with a development of 85 metres and a vertical drop of 48 metres.^[29]

The Spluga della Preta is a major karst abyss located near Corno d'Aquilio, in western Lessinia, close to the boundary between the provinces of Verona and Trento. With 877 metres explored, it is one of the deepest caves in Italy and occupies a central place in the history of Italian speleology.^[30]

The cave opens in the karst massif of Corno d'Aquilio. From the outside only the large entrance is visible; the internal system includes shafts, chambers and vertical drops that require technical equipment and expert speleological skills.^[30] Its depth, exploration history and geological setting made it a reference site for generations of cavers. The surrounding karst plateau also includes the Grotta del Ciabattino and other cavities connected with the broader speleological interest of western Lessinia.^[30]

Lessinia and the adjacent Alpone Valley contain fossil deposits of international importance. The serial site Eocene Marine Biodiversity of the Alpone Valley is included in Italy's UNESCO Tentative List and consists of 39 fossil deposits in the Province of Verona and neighbouring areas.^[31] The area includes the famous Monte Bolca fossil sites, especially the Pesciara and Monte Postale, known for exceptionally preserved Eocene marine fossils.^[31][32]

In January 2026 the Italian National Commission for UNESCO approved the nomination of "The Eocene Marine Ecosystems at Bolca and in the Alpone Valley" as Italy's candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for 2027. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the proposed serial site includes the Bolca, San Giovanni Ilarione and Roncà areas, with 15 outcrops documenting Middle and Late Eocene marine ecosystems.^[33]

The Museo dei Fossili di Bolca displays fossil fish, plants, insects and other organisms from the Bolca deposits and is connected with the nearby Pesciara and Monte Postale fossil sites.^[34] PaleoItalia describes the Pesciara of Bolca as one of the most important fossil localities in the world for the quality of preservation of its fossils and for their role in the history of science.^[32]

The Geopaleontological Museum of Camposilvano presents the geological and palaeontological history of Lessinia, including ammonites, dinosaur footprints, cave bears and prehistoric settlements.^[27] The Italian Ministry of Culture describes its collections as including fossil organisms and rocks from Lessinia that illustrate the environmental evolution of the region through geological time.^[35]

The Paleontological and Prehistoric Museum of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo preserves fossils and prehistoric artefacts from western Lessinia, including material from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age.^[36] Vertebrate fossils from the Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo and Fumane area are associated with the quarrying of stratified limestone known locally as lastame or Pietra di Prun.^[37]

The Fumane Cave is one of the major prehistoric archaeological sites in Europe. Located in the municipality of Fumane, it preserves evidence of Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens activity and has been studied through research coordinated by the University of Ferrara.^[38] The cave is especially important for the study of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in northern Italy.^[38][39]

According to the University of Ferrara, the cave preserves deposits more than ten metres thick, documenting technological, cultural and symbolic aspects of human life for more than 150,000 years. Its stratigraphy records the transition from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens and from the Mousterian to the Uluzzian and Aurignacian cultural phases.^[40]

The Lessinia territory has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The availability of flint for tool production, the presence of many caves and rock shelters, and favourable conditions for mobility and shelter encouraged different prehistoric communities to settle or move through the area.^[41] The earliest evidence dates back to the Lower Paleolithic and demonstrates human presence in several localities, including Riparo Soman, Ponte di Veja, the Villa locality at Quinzano, Cà Verde at Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Riparo Tagliente and Fumane Cave.^[42] Numerous remains from the later Riss-Würm interglacial period have also been found in Quinzano, including spearheads, axes, sickles and fragments of human skull bones.

Other Middle Paleolithic settlements have been found on the Torricelle, Monte Cucco, Monte Loffa and at Azzago.^[43] The finds suggest that these were generally not permanent settlements, since the populations practised a mobile way of life, although the Cà Verde area may have been an exception.^[44] Among the fauna of the time were cave bears, wolves, hyenas and various steppe rodents.^[45]

Archaeological evidence from the Upper Paleolithic in lower Lessinia is comparatively scarce, especially for artistic objects and complex artefacts.^[46] Signs of a more complex material culture appear in the Copper Age,^[47] with human presence on the hills of Marcellise, at Ponte di Veja, on Mount Loffa, at Molina,^[48] and at Colombare of Negrar, where a hearth was found, probably used for ritual purposes.^[49]

From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, in the Bronze Age, the phenomenon of the castellieri appears in the area: small settlements of huts placed in a semicircle, fortified with dry-stone walls and located on hilltops.^[50] Although only scattered traces remain, some have been identified near Arbizzano, Fumane and Marano di Valpolicella. One of the best-preserved sites, dating from the Iron Age, was found at Castel Sottosengia near Breonio, but disappeared to make way for a marble quarry.^[48][51] The discovery of materials such as tin and copper suggests that local people engaged in trade with areas beyond Italy.^[50] Many objects found in the area are now preserved in the Paleontological and Prehistoric Museum of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo and the Civic Museum of Natural History in Verona.^[52]

Before Roman rule, which began between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the territory of Lessinia was inhabited by various populations of Rhaetian origin.^[53] A separate mention belongs to the ancient inhabitants of Valpolicella, the Arusnates, whose Rhaetian or Etruscan origin is debated. This population enjoyed special administrative autonomy even after the arrival of the Romans, forming the Pagus Arusnatium.^[54]

Two important Roman roads converged on Verona's territory: the Via Claudia Augusta, which connected northern Europe to the Po Valley, and the Via Postumia, which, starting from Liguria, extended to the eastern borders of the Roman Empire. The convergence of these routes in Verona made the area strategically important, and secondary roads were also built through the Lessinian hills.^[55]

At that time Lessinia, part of the Veronese countryside, was largely occupied by forests in the lower part, known as Frizzolana and Selva veronensis, while the high plains, known as Lessinium, were used for summer grazing. In addition to grazing, the gathering of herbs, berries, mushrooms, firewood and construction timber was practised.^[56] White and reddish limestone was extracted from the quarries and widely used in urban buildings.^[57]

Much of the territory remained uninhabited and few Roman traces were left in the higher areas, where the Romans mainly guarded access routes and left local communities a degree of administrative autonomy. At San Mauro di Saline there was a cart road that went up the ridge and was used for transhumance of goats and sheep to the heights. At Velo Veronese there was a military fort.^[58] The situation differed in the valley-bottom villages, where the centuriation of the 2nd century BC promoted intense agriculture and the construction of Roman villas. Remains have been found at Negrar, Romagnano, Azzago and Colognola ai Colli. From Valpantena and Valpolicella departed the aqueducts that supplied Verona.^[59] A hypogeum from the late imperial period has been found at Santa Maria in Stelle.^[60] Beginning in the 4th century, the Christianization of the inhabitants of Lessinia began; the burning of the temple of Minerva at Marano, where the sanctuary of Santa Maria di Valverde now stands, is linked to this process.^[61]

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire there was a decrease in population and economic activity in Lessinia. In Lombard times many plots were granted as feudal benefits to the Arimannia, free men able to bear arms.^[62] With the end of Lombard rule and the advent of the Carolingian age, these became gastalds delegated to oversee lands belonging to new feudal lords, mostly ecclesiastical bodies. Among these were the abbey of St Columbanus of Bobbio, the court of the Priory of the monastery of St Columbanus of Bardolino and Verona, the cathedral chapter, the monastery of San Zeno, the monastery of Santa Maria in Organo and the monastery of Saints Nazaro and Celso.

By the end of the early Middle Ages the territory was organized into parishes, the most important being those of Grezzana, San Floriano, San Martino in Negrar, Arbizzano and Montorio, Santa Maria in Tregnago, and San Giovanni in Loffa, the latter probably the oldest in western Lessinia. In the 10th century at least three sculdasci supervised areas of strategic interest.^{[note 1][63]} The term "Lessinia" appears for the first time in a document dated 7 May 814.^[3]

The name Valpolicella appears for the first time in a decree of Frederick Barbarossa dated 24 August 1177, in which the emperor granted to the Congregation of the Clergy lands around the Castrum Rotaris near present-day San Pietro in Cariano.^[64] In 1178 Barbarossa gave comital rights over lands and villas in the area to Count Sauro of the Sambonifacio family.^[64] Administratively Valpolicella had no formal recognition until the communal age, when it was organized as a colonello, a local administrative unit with partial autonomy, although it accepted a captain from Verona when necessary.^[65] In 1311, with Federico della Scala, the county of Valpolicella was established and enjoyed greater freedom and tax advantages, which it retained for centuries after the end of Scaliger rule.^[66]

Valpantena belonged largely to the canons of the cathedral. Through the 921 will of the bishop of Verona Nokterio it is known that Marzana had a castle cum turribus et omnibus in circuito municionibus suis and that another was built in Grezzana.^[10] Other castles were built in later years. Between the 10th and 11th centuries castra are documented at Poiano, built before 968, Rocca di Lugo, Azzago, Romagnano, Montorio and Arbetu, present-day Erbezzo, mentioned in 1014.^[67] In the same period the cathedral chapter increased its local power: a diploma of Otto II in 983 assigned some castles to it, while in 1027 Henry II granted it the right to collect taxes.^[67]

With the advent of the communal age, the area was repopulated and Grezzana became the most important centre, being elevated to a parish seat.^[68] Fiscally the valley was organized as a local tax district, while jurisdictionally it became a captaincy.^[69] This new political order led to the gradual abandonment of the castles, except for that of Montorio because of its strategic position.^[70]

At that time the upper Lessinia was divided into Frizzolana, the wooded belt between about 900 and 1,200 metres owned by city ecclesiastical bodies; the Silva Communis Veronae, located between 1,200 and 1,400 metres and belonging to the municipality of Verona, which issued laws regulating wood collection;^[71] and Lessinio, the high-altitude pastures mostly owned by secular landowners or monasteries and used for wool production, a key element of Verona's economy.^[72]

During the 13th century the wool guild became one of Verona's most important economic institutions, and upper Lessinia took on strategic importance for sheep grazing.^[73] Ecclesiastical bodies leased or sold many of their Lessinian lands to wealthy city families active in the wool industry.^[74] This process was strengthened by the rise of the Della Scala seigniory, long involved in the wool trade, which gradually controlled the city's religious institutions and their mountain holdings. The so-called Potesteria Lissinorum developed in this context: a temporary jurisdiction over the population of the high pastures formally belonging to the monastery of San Zeno, but in practice entrusted to the Della Scala family as feudal lords.^[75][76]

On 5 February 1287, while Alberto della Scala was lord of Verona, Bishop Bartolomeo della Scala granted a group of German-origin settlers who had previously settled on the Vicentine plateau permission to settle in Lessinia in the area of today's Roverè Veronese. Their two leaders, Olderico Vicentino and Olderico da Altissimo, were given the office of episcopal gastalds. This formed the first nucleus of the Cimbrians of Lessinia.^[74]

The bishop called this population mainly for economic reasons, especially the need for labour to produce charcoal and timber at lower cost than imports from Trent. The early community received benefits such as exemption from military service and taxes and the right to choose its own parish priest, or jus patronatus. In the early 14th century, with the approval of Cangrande della Scala, they colonised the Frizzolana at the expense of the cathedral canons. In 1375 they founded the parish of Valdiporro and later that of Erbezzo, eventually settling also in San Mauro di Saline, Velo Veronese, Camposilvano and Selva di Progno. Their rapid expansion was slowed only by the Black Death, which struck Lessinia and caused a significant population decline.^[77]

After the end of Scaliger power and a short period under the Visconti and the Carraresi, Lessinia became part of the Republic of Venice with the Devotion of Verona to Venice in 1405, remaining so until the fall of the Republic, except during the War of the League of Cambrai.^[78] The need to rely on loyal populations near the border led Venice to confirm and expand rights and privileges already granted to local inhabitants. For example, the inhabitants of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo were allowed to graze animals and gather wood as long as they ensured armed control of the paths leading toward the border with the bishopric of Trent.^[79]

The Serenissima also promoted the construction of a road known as della Selve Lessinee, which crossed the territory of the vicariate of Valpantena toward Lugo, Belloro and Lughezzano.^[80] The oldest cartographic depiction of Lessinia appears in the Almagià map of 1440. It shows several settlements, including Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo with Cona and Cerna, the wooded area of Selva, Bosco Chiesanuova with many buildings and a church, Valdiporro with a church and nearby districts, and the territories of Saline, Tavernole, Alcenago, Lugo, Azzago and Romagnano.^[81]

Thanks to Venetian privileges and relative peace, between the 14th and 16th centuries the population of Lessinia grew and activities such as pastoralism and agriculture were added to traditional charcoal production and wood gathering. Despite this, the population still lived in poverty, with maize often forming almost the only food available.^[82] As population grew, new settlements were built. Abandoning old wooden dwellings, the inhabitants began to use red Verona marble, which was locally available, processed into regular slabs and successfully exploited. Buildings dedicated to specific activities were also constructed, such as baiti and caseare for milk processing, icehouses and kilns to obtain quicklime.^[83] Numerous religious buildings also appeared in the territory, including small churches, wayside shrines, steles and chapels placed at crossroads, all expressing the religious devotion of the inhabitants and still marking the landscape.^[84]

When Napoleon's troops settled in Lessinia after the Peace of Pressburg in 1805, major administrative changes began: borders changed several times and the bureaucratic system was simplified. The presence of troops in Lessinian villages was numerous and often unpopular.^[85] The French conducted censuses and studied the spread of the Cimbrian language, ascertaining that it was still spoken in Selva di Progno, Campofontana and Giazza. They also founded the first secular public schools.^[86]

These reforms continued under subsequent Austrian rule, which lasted between 1814 and 1866, when the annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy occurred. During this period a free medical service was established, mainly to contain epidemics such as pellagra, smallpox and cholera, which affected the malnourished population.^[87][88]

After the Third Italian War of Independence, Lessinia was annexed by Italy and again became a borderland with the Austrian Empire. Numerous defensive buildings were therefore built, such as Fort Masua on Monte Pastello, Fort San Briccio, Fort Santa Viola above Azzago and Fort Monte Tesoro. The carriage-road network was also strengthened.^[89] The second half of the 19th century was hard for the population: famines and unemployment led many people to emigrate abroad.^[90] Common activities among the poor resident population were livestock farming, cheese production and, in the central and eastern area, charcoal production; ice extraction was also widespread and took place in the typical icehouses.^[91] Difficult living conditions also encouraged smuggling with neighbouring Tyrol, involving salt, tobacco, coffee, spices, sugar and alcohol.^[92]

Because Lessinia was a border territory, it was feared that it could become a theatre of combat during World War I, and trenches and military roads were built. The plateau, however, served mainly as a second line and training area while combat was concentrated on nearby Mount Pasubio.^[93] After the Armistice of Villa Giusti, Trentino became Italian and Lessinia ceased to be a border territory. The exhausted population saw conditions worsen, leading to further emigration. World War II did not directly involve the plateau in major battles, although it was occupied by the Wehrmacht after 1943. The most significant event was a fire set by German soldiers in the upper Alpone valley in retaliation for a partisan action.^[94]

After the war, the Italian economic miracle was not enough to stop the depopulation of the higher and more remote areas. New technologies and the growth of industry and services in the valley caused several traditional mountain activities to decline, and many inhabitants moved to the city, leaving ancient districts abandoned. From the 1960s, new residences began to be built in the larger towns for vacation use, and highland tourism developed.^[95]

The ecosystems of Lessinia include high pastures, hay meadows, beech woods, hornbeam woods, spruce and silver-fir stands, rocky habitats, caves and wetlands associated with ponds and springs. The Lessinia Regional Park protects part of these environments and the cultural landscape associated with them.^[1]

In Lessinia, 170 bird species were observed between 2006 and 2012, ranging from common turdids, finches and titmice to species more typical of alpine environments, such as capercaillie, black grouse, golden eagle, wallcreeper and dipper, and more unusual species such as black stork, black-winged stilt, cormorant, grey heron, egret, garganey and spotted redshank.^[96] Nature-related tourism, especially birdwatching, has gradually developed in the area due to the presence of numerous alpine species including the golden eagle, rock thrush and dipper. In winter it is possible to observe the snow bunting, an uncommon species in Italy, especially around Bocca di Selva.

The wolf returned naturally to Lessinia in the early 2010s. A GPS-collared male from the Dinaric-Balkan population, commonly known as Slavc, dispersed from Slovenia through Austria and reached the Italian Alps in 2012. Subsequent monitoring documented the establishment of a pair in Lessinia and reproduction in 2013.^[97]

The case was of scientific interest because it contributed to reconnecting wolf populations of Italian-Apennine/Alpine and Dinaric-Balkan origin after a long period of separation.^[98] According to Life WolfAlps, the first pair in the Lessinia mountains was formed by Slavc, from the Dinaric Alps, and a female from the Western Alps; this was considered an event of high biological and conservation value because it reconnected populations that had long been separated.^[99]

The return of wolves has also generated conflicts with livestock farming, especially because Lessinia is an area of summer grazing and open high pastures. Monitoring, damage-prevention measures and public information have therefore become part of the management of the species in the area.^[100]

Wolves also have a place in the rural and Cimbrian folklore of Lessinia. In the locality of Riserva di Buse di Sopra, in the municipality of Velo Veronese, there is a stele bearing an inscription dated 1657 and connected with the traditional story of Maddalena of the contrada Valle della Ba, said to have been killed by a wolf while rinsing laundry at the Posso del Loo, or Wolf's Well. The belief, still remembered in the Camposilvano area, that wolves could not feed on the left side of the human body was linked to this story.^[101]

Lessinia is one of the Italian areas historically associated with the Cimbrian language and culture. Cimbrian communities in the Veronese mountains are generally connected with medieval settlement by German-speaking groups of Bavarian-Tyrolean origin, traditionally linked to forestry, charcoal production, pastoralism and mountain crafts.^[102]

The village of Giazza, or Ljetzan, in the municipality of Selva di Progno, is one of the principal centres of Cimbrian heritage in Lessinia. The Museum of the Cimbri documents the history, work, language, material culture and customs of the Cimbrian communities of the plateau.^[103] According to the Italian Ministry of Culture, the museum displays traditional tools, objects of popular art and craft, didactic panels and photographs related to the Cimbrian populations of Lessinia.^[103]

Of particular interest are the small villages and their many contrade, consisting of two to fifty dwellings, in the mountain areas above 800 m above sea level. In these contexts, the extensive availability of stone through quarries, combined with the scarcer availability of construction timber, produced a distinctive architectural character.^[104] Dry-stone walls and house roofs are made of stone slabs, reflecting the construction type of many mountain huts. House floors, even after restoration, often preserve stone, with an internal fireplace and large wooden beams supporting the upper floors. Stone was also used for boundary walls, washhouses and, when carved, crosses and religious shrines depicting the Passion of Christ or the Virgin Mary.^[104]

The local stone traditionally known as Pietra della Lessinia or Pietra di Prun is a stratified marly limestone extracted in slabs, locally called lastame. The fossiliferous limestones of the Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, Prun and Fumane area belong to the Scaglia Rossa Veneta formation and are divided into numerous layers of variable thickness.^[37][23] The use of stone slabs for heavy roofs is one of the distinctive elements of Lessinian rural architecture. The scarcity of construction timber in some areas and the availability of quarried stone favoured the development of buildings with dry-stone walls, slab roofs and stone paving. Historic quarrying areas include Prun and Monte Loffa; the ancient quarries of Prun preserve traces of underground extraction in galleries and chambers.^[23]

Traditional icehouses, locally known as giassàre, were once an important element of Lessinia's rural economy. They were built to preserve ice cut during winter from nearby ponds or frozen basins. The ice was stored in partly underground stone structures and transported during the warmer months to Verona and the surrounding plain, where it was used for food preservation and other urban needs.^[105]

The Giassàra del Grietz, about 4 km from Bosco Chiesanuova along the road to Malga San Giorgio, was built around 1870 by Innocente Menegazzi and remained in use for ice production until 1935-1936.^[106] Another restored example, the Giassàra dei Carcerèri in Cerro Veronese, illustrates the work of the giassàroi, who stored ice and sold it in Verona during the summer.^[105] The central Lessinia area, especially around Cerro Veronese and Bosco Chiesanuova, had a particularly high concentration of icehouses; according to the Museo Val di Magnino, Cerro Veronese had 24 icehouses at the end of the 19th century.^[107]

There are several museums in Lessinia, mostly naturalistic, with important ethnographic collections as well. The Bolca Fossil Museum devotes two rooms to fossil finds including more than 150 species of fish, 250 species of plants, insects and minor fauna. It is connected with the nearby Pesciara and Monte Postale fossil sites, among the best-known Eocene fossil localities in the area.^[34][32][31]

At the Geopaleontological Museum in Camposilvano, fossils from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods found both on the plateau and in other regions provide a view of the geological and palaeontological history of the area. The museum is closely linked to the Covolo di Camposilvano and to the geological and palaeontological interpretation of the central Lessinia plateau.^[27] The Paleontological and Prehistoric Museum of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo displays artefacts found in local stone quarries, including fossils of fish, sharks, marine reptiles and ammonites. It also has a section devoted to prehistory with objects found around Fumane.

In Molina there is the Lessinia Botanical Museum, which has a collection of about 300 herbaceous, shrub and tree species typical of the area. A visit to the museum can be combined with the nearby Waterfall Park and the ancient stone courtyards.^[108] The Roncà Fossil Museum, founded in 1975, presents evidence of environments about 40 million years ago, including fossils of foraminifera, molluscs, reptiles, mammals and plants.

The Ethnographic Museum in Bosco Chiesanuova illustrates the traditional work of the people who once lived in Lessinia, such as wood cutting, charcoal making, milk processing and ice making. It is complemented by external sites such as the Giassàra del Grietz and the Baito della Coletta.^[2] In Giazza, the Museum of the Cimbri offers an exhibition related to the history, culture and language of the ancient Cimbri. The Trombini Museum in Selva di Progno displays several types of trombino, including a Venetian-made specimen dating to 1500. The Malga Derocon Flora-Fauna Area, in Erbezzo, allows visitors to observe specimens of chamois, deer and roe deer in semi-freedom, as well as 60 floristic species of Lessinia, a rock garden and some centuries-old beech trees.^[109]

The economy of Lessinia has historically been based on livestock farming, dairy production, forestry, seasonal grazing and the quarrying and working of local stone. Traditional activities were closely connected with the plateau's high pastures, wooded valleys, stone resources and dispersed rural settlements.

One of the most important local products is Monte Veronese, a PDO cheese produced in the northern part of the Province of Verona. The mountain-pasture version, Monte Veronese d'allevo di malga, is recognised as a Slow Food Presidium and is made with milk from cows grazing on summer alpine pastures.^[110]

The Brogna sheep is an autochthonous breed of the Veronese mountains. It has been reared for centuries in the Lessinia pastures, at altitudes between about 1,000 and 1,800 metres, and is recognised as a Slow Food Presidium.^[111] The breed is connected with meat, milk and wool production and with the maintenance of open mountain pastures.^[111]

Stone quarrying is another characteristic activity of the area. The local stone traditionally known as Pietra della Lessinia or Pietra di Prun is a stratified marly limestone extracted in slabs and used for roofs, paving, walls, floors and architectural elements. The working of stone, together with the use of Red Verona marble, has shaped both the local economy and the vernacular architecture of the plateau.^{[23][37][104]}

The regional park promotes a range of local products, including cheeses, cured meats, honey, fruit, herbs, liquors, baked goods and products from native breeds.^[112] These products are connected with pastureland, altitude, water, native breeds and small-scale processing rather than with intensive production.

Tourism in Lessinia is predominantly characterized by visitors from neighbouring areas, especially Verona and Mantua. It is linked to second homes, hiking, winter recreation, naturalistic tourism, fossil and ethnographic museums, historical sites and rural hospitality.

• Parish church of San Giorgio di Valpolicella, in San Giorgio of Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella. Built on an earlier Lombard temple, of which an interesting ciborium remains, the Romanesque building was erected in the 11th century. In the Middle Ages it housed a college of priests and a seminary.
• Church of San Leonardo on Mount Moro, in San Mauro di Saline. The present building was built in 1388 on an earlier church, probably destroyed by fire, adjoining a monastery whose prior in 1145 was a certain Lanfranco. Outside, on the right, is a wide portico used to accommodate pilgrims. The walls of the naves are adorned with 17th and 18th-century frescoes.
• Church of San Giovanni in Loffa, in Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo. The building is believed to date from the 13th century, although the first written traces appear more than a century later.
• Church of St Anthony, in Vestenavecchia. It was erected by the bishops in the late 13th century on the ruins of the castle, using material from it, and dedicated to St Anthony the Abbot. The exterior was remodelled in 1537; in 1650 the Baroque altar and the apse were built, preserving for years an ancient wooden crucifix from the 16th century.

• Veja Bridge, in Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, is a natural arch with an archway of about forty metres, a minimum thickness of nine metres and a width of twenty metres.^[24]
• Molina Waterfall Park, in Molina of Fumane, is a nature park known for its waterfalls. The park extends over about 80,000 square metres in an area rich in streams, springs and waterfalls.^[113]
• Prun Quarries, in Negrar, are ancient underground quarries associated with the extraction of Lessinia or Prun stone. The Fondo Ambiente Italiano reports that these monumental quarries already existed at the beginning of the 13th century and were largely abandoned in the mid-20th century, when extraction moved toward open-air quarries.^[114]
• Riparo Solinas, in Fumane, currently known as Fumane Cave, was inhabited for a very long period and preserves important evidence of Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens activity.^[38]
• Valle delle Sfingi, near Camposilvano in Velo Veronese, is a small karst valley known for isolated limestone monoliths shaped by erosion and weathering.^[25]
• Covolo di Camposilvano, near the Geopaleontological Museum of Camposilvano, is a large karst collapse cavity more than 80 metres deep.^[26]
• Grotta di Monte Capriolo, in Roverè Veronese, is a show cave also known as Grotta di Roverè 1000 or Grotta del Sogno.^[28]
• Spluga della Preta, near Corno d'Aquilio, is one of the deepest caves in Italy and an important site in the history of Italian speleology.^[30]
• Ponte Tibetano della Val Sorda is a public Tibetan bridge on the Sentiero Tibetano, a circular route starting from Malga Biancari and descending toward the Molin del Cao area. The bridge is 52 metres long and reaches a maximum height of about 40 metres above the valley.^[115]
• Forte Monte Tesoro, on Monte Tesoro near Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, was built between 1905 and 1911 to complete the northern defensive system of Verona. Built with local stone from Lugo and concrete, it has been restored and adapted as a historical site open through guided visits.^[116][117]
• Trenches of Malga Pidocchio, near Malga Lessinia and Castelberto, are part of the military heritage of the First World War. The restored defensive works include about 430 metres of tunnels and passages and form the Ecomuseum of the Lessinia Trenches, inaugurated in 2014.^[118][119]
• Mulino di Bellori, in the Grezzana area, preserves the characteristics of early mills with largely wooden gears and includes a baito once used for milk collection and the production of butter and cheese.^[120]
• Baito della Coletta, near Bosco Chiesanuova, is a rectangular building dated 1729 that was once used for milk processing and preserves tools for butter and cheese production.^[121]
• Giassàra del Grietz, near Bosco Chiesanuova, is one of the best-known traditional icehouses of Lessinia and one of the external sites of the Ethnographic Museum.^[106][2]

The mountains of Lessinia offer numerous opportunities for sports. In winter, around Malga San Giorgio in the municipality of Bosco Chiesanuova, there was a ski resort with several ski lifts. Malga San Giorgio is also one of the starting points, along with Passo delle Fittanze and Bocca di Selva, of the Fondo Alta Lessinia centre, a cross-country skiing route that runs through parts of the mountain range, reaching altitudes between 1,390 and 1,755 m. In the 2020s, disused ski-lift structures in the regional park became the subject of environmental restoration and removal works.^[122]

In summer Lessinia is frequented by hikers, and in recent years the presence of mountain bikers has increased. The dirt trails through the alpine pastures have attracted off-road cyclists. In the area around Sega di Ala, the Lessinia Bike was held every year, a race in which athletes competed on a route through western Lessinia. The eastern part has hosted editions of the mountain bike race Lessinia Legend. Racing bike enthusiasts also frequent the area, especially the crossing of the Passo delle Fittanze and the climb starting from Sdruzzinà, in Ala.

Caving is an important specialised activity in the karst sector, particularly around Corno d'Aquilio, Spluga della Preta, Grotta del Ciabattino, Buso del Vallon, Covolo di Camposilvano and Grotta di Monte Capriolo. Access to technical caves such as the Spluga della Preta is limited to experienced speleologists with suitable equipment and authorisation.^[30]

• Venetian Prealps
• Vicariate of Valpolicella
• Lessinia Regional Park
• Monte Bolca
• Cimbrian language
• Monte Veronese
• Fumane Cave

• Lessinia Regional Park official website
• Lessinia Regional Park on Parks.it
• Visit Lessinia
• Museo dei Fossili di Bolca
• Museo Geopaleontologico di Camposilvano
• Film Festival della Lessinia