Soave

About half way between Verona and Vicenza the little town of Soave lies on the old Roman road Postumia (now state road SS 11) in the foothills of the Monti Lessini. Soave is an intact medieval town with crenellated walls topped by a turreted castle, and its numerous art treasures and stone relics have brought the past alive. The origins of the settlement are lost in the mists of time. A fortress, first mentioned around the year 1000 CE, was extended by Verona’s Scaliger family in the fourteenth century. Cansignorio della Scala, the last of the Scaliger rulers, added the city walls and further palazzi. After the decline of the dynasty, Soave and its castle fell to the Viscontis from Milan, and then to the Carraras, the lords who ruled Padua. In 1405 the townspeople rose up under Galeazzo Gonzaga and joined the Venetian Republic, who declared that “Rocha Suapis utilissima nostro dominio” (the castle of Soave is very useful for our dominion). After lengthy tussles between the Viscontis, the Venetians and the Habsburgs under the Emperor Maximilian, in 1517 Soave and its castle went to the Venetian ruler Andrea Gritti. Centuries of peace followed, its history now intimately intertwined with that of the Venetian Republic. The castle rapidly lost its importance and steadily declined until it was finally restored in the late nineteenth century. From the battlements of the tower you can enjoy an extensive view over the roofs and countryside. Soave is also the name for the famous wine grape that is grown in the area, covering the hills in a moving sea of carefully planted rows of vines.