Tour #10 – The battlefields of the “Risorgimento”
tour mtb and ebike
Medium Level trail combining hilly roads, paved lo-traffic roads and fun dirt grounds.
Length: about 55 Km (34.18 Miles).
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Duration: total about of 5 hours including stops.
Snack/Aperitif at “Chiosco del Mincio” at tour’s end.
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This tour MTB and EBike takes place on the gentle ups and downs of the Morainic Hills.
Starting point is the “Ponte della Gloria” (Bridge of Glory) in Goito where on April 8th 1848 during the battle between the Austrian Empire Army and the Piedmontese Army the infantry division known as “Bersaglieri”, under the command of Colonel La Marmora, was first born.
We continue in the general direction of Torre riding on fun off-road paths slicing through the surrounding farmland ,with the scenic interrupted view that extends over the hills around us to the Alps.
Through a combo of off-road and municipal roads we ride along the Great Canal that serves the Power plant in Pozzolo to arrive up on the hills of Volta Mantovana.
Our next stop is the town of Cavriana, which we’ll reach by riding through little-known roads and pathways across the fields and vines that surround it and by using the Parish Church on top of the highest hill as our “nidle of the compass”.
OUR DESTINATION: Solferino and the historic battlefield.
Riding through unpaved roads through the scenic panorama will take us to the town of Solferino, theater of the battle of battaglia di Solferino and San Martino fought on June 24th 1859 between the Austian Army and the joint French and Piedmontese Army, battle considered pivotal during the Second War of independence.
In Solferino we’ll visit the monuments that commemorate that battle such as the Museum of the Risorgimento, The “Ossario”, The Rocca and the Red Cross Memorial.
We then Leave Solferino to ride to the Borgo of Castellaro Lagusello where Napoleon the 3rd met with his commanders and from where he then rode to the nearby Monzambano, other important ground of Risorgimento battles.
From Monzambano we ride south on the bikeway Mantova-Peschiera to arrive to Borghetto, a village situated between the town of Valeggio s/M and the the Visconteo bridge listed as one of the most beautiful burgs of Italy and site of the battle of 1848 that destroyed part of the bridge that overlooks it.
Leaving Borghetto and back on the bikeway we arrive to Pozzolo where we then catch a low-traffic municipal road that tajes us back to the Chiosco del Mincio for a end of tour snack-aperitif.