{"id":23517,"date":"2019-05-17T08:52:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T06:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/?p=23517"},"modified":"2020-05-22T14:40:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:40:56","slug":"rotzo-trekking-and-green-hospitality-in-the-7-municipalities-highland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/rotzo-trekking-and-green-hospitality-in-the-7-municipalities-highland\/","title":{"rendered":"Trekking and Green Hospitality in Rotzo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking among dry-stone walls and fields of potatoes, we discover old paths of prehistorical villages, immersed in the harmony of nature and local tastes. So we knew Rotzo and the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni, together with Federica, owner of the eco-friendly BnB\u00a0H\u00e9mmara.<\/h2>\n

Only looking at the place names<\/strong>\u00a0in this land, we become aware of the story of this fascinating melting pot of languages and cultures.\u00a0Rotzo<\/strong>, for instance, comes from “Rotz” which means “rock, cliff, reef” in old Cimber language. H\u00e9mmara <\/strong>too has\u00a0a Cimbrian name, the name of a flower, the\u00a0Hellebore<\/strong>.\u00a0I choose to call my<\/em> B&B H\u00e9mmara<\/em>\u2013\u00a0 told us the owner\u00a0Federica Capriz\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 because I especially like this little flower coming out in winter; it’s a simple flower which mirrors my hospitality.<\/p>\n

Hemmara is also the name of a small village near\u00a0Albaredo di Rotzo<\/strong>, where forests in winter are full of these flowers.<\/p>\n

\"H\u00e9mmara
H\u00e9mmara has the Cimbrian name of a flower, the Hellebore. This little flower comes out in winter near Rotzo, photo via Wikimedia<\/div><\/div>\n

Who were Cimbers? They were Bavarian loggers, peasants, and farmers. Around year one thousand, they were called from Vincentian bishops to colonize the land. It’s in this way that this German language was spoken as well in\u00a0Rotzo<\/strong>, the oldest municipality in the\u00a0Altopiano dei Sette Comuni<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0weekend <\/strong>to discover this place starts here,\u00a0in an old house in\u00a0Albaredo di Rotzo which has now become a\u00a0wonderful eco-friendly bed & breakfast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rotzo is the smallest and oldest village in the land, like they demonstrate the iron age findings in\u00a0Bostel di Rotzo<\/strong>. Today it is an accessible park, very attractive for tourists especially thanks to the archeological site with restaurants and the multimedia museum: “Museo Archeologico Sette Comuni<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n

\"Rotzo's
Campagna di Rotzo, photo by Caterina Zancanaro<\/div><\/div>\n

Moving southern, we find\u00a0Campagna di Rotzo<\/strong>, one of the renewed potatoes<\/strong>\u00a0De.Co. production spots. A green sunny highland with a network of\u00a0pedestrian paths<\/strong>, rural streets and small trails leading to wild nature, meeting waterfalls, small churches and breathtaking terraced landscapes on the way. On the other side of the village,\u00a0spruce<\/strong>\u00a0and beech\u00a0<\/strong>forests\u00a0<\/strong>grow and it is possible to have a deeper look to legendary places, like Altaburg and\u00a0Altar Knotto<\/strong>, reachable with on a CAI path. Going up in the mountains, we can see the fields meadows of alpine pastures, which is possible to visit through the Altipiani Cimbri pedestrian path. This wonderful path has been built to practice Nordic skiing in winter and starts at\u00a0Rifugio Campolongo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Night
Night view over the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni, photo of Hime Sara, via wikimedia<\/div><\/div>\n

So we leave\u00a0B&B H\u00e9mmara<\/a>\u00a0by feet, walking among pathways and ancient mule-tracks immersed in Rotzo’s countryside.<\/p>\n

An amazing landscape made of green grasses and\u00a0white stone\u00a0terraced<\/strong>. On these green hills, between 800 and 1000 meters in altitude, they grow from generations the famous “Rotzo’s potatoes”. This tradition is celebrated from over 40 years every first Sunday of September with the “Rotzo’s Potato Party<\/b>” – Federica told us.<\/p>\n

The cultivated landscape too has left some signs of the presence of the old Cimber, living in this place for centuries. White stone<\/strong>\u00a0slabs\u00a0<\/strong>delimitate each farmer’s land.\u00a0Dry-stone walls<\/strong> made up terraces to soften the altitude and constitute the border between the several pedestrian and bike paths.<\/p>\n

\"Rotzo's
Rotzo’s trekking along the white paths, photo by Silvia Ombellini<\/div><\/div>\n
\"Trekking
Trekking map of Rotzo<\/div><\/div>\n

We walk along the fields, following the small pathways, until we reach\u00a0Bostel di Rotzo<\/strong>, archeological site<\/strong> dating back to the Venetian-Rhoetian period. Here historical abbot Agostino Dal Pozzo di Rotzo, around the end of the year 800, discovered some remainings of an Iron-age building, which has interested researchers for a long time. Even today, during September, some researchers from the University of Padua gather to come to light new findings.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Bostel di Rotzo it is possible to visit the model of an iron age prealpine house<\/b>, which was built following the instructions given from the archaeological researches. Wooden walls and thatched roof, the old house is tremendously suggestive and catch immediately the attention of every visitor, child included. It is possible to enter the house and start the journey in a prehistoric life atmosphere, thanks to the use of recent technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (more information on\u00a0bosteldirotzo.it<\/a>, in Italian).<\/p>\n\n\t\t