La valenza simbolico-culturale dei Colli Euganei come "paesaggio storico rur-bano"

The Euganean Hills rise in the heart of the Po-Venetian plain, consisting of about a hundred reliefs of volcanic origin. The peculiar geological and climatic history has made possible the formation of an extraordinary botanical-faunal biodiversity. There are intense phenomena of hydrotherapy, already known from the protohistoric era for their magical-sacral value. The orographic complex is comparable to a historical landscape-essay: A landscape of exceptional aesthetic and cultural value, which dominated the ancient rural countryside of Padua and Polesine, becoming its only and main visual goal in the infinite horizontality of the plain. Monastic and historical settlements from the Renaissance and Baroque periods are also counterpointed to the densely encased landscape from the early Middle Ages. Since the second half of the 18th century, the construction of balneotherapy establishments has activated a phenomenon of mass curative tourism at an international level.