The association of the "most beautiful villages in Italy" was born in 2001. The club is in fact engaged in the enhancement of hundreds of small Italian towns valued on the basis of architectural beauty, the richness of the artistic-cultural heritage as well as livability: magnificent and often lesser-known destinations, but certainly worth a visit during a holiday in Veneto.
To date, the most beautiful villages in Italy are 268, of which 19 are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and 2017 is, according to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, is precisely the Year of the Villages.
In this article we would like to introduce four small jewels of the province of Treviso: Asolo, Cison di Valmarino, Follina and Portobuffolè.
The most beautiful villages in Italy: Asolo
The first village is known as the village of a hundred horizons: Asolo is in fact as splendid because of its fame, always loved by artists and writers like Eleonora Duse and Freya Stark. The medieval fortress dominates the town from above and encloses the small historic centre with its walls, where you can walk among arcades and elegant cafés and still breathe the atmosphere that has charmed many writers of the past. Do not miss a visit to the fortress: the effort to face the climb is rewarded by a splendid view of the surrounding landscape.
Discover Asolo by E-Bike! Discover our tour The House of Cornaro amidst the Asolo Hills
The most beautiful villages in Italy: Cison di Valmarino
In the midst of the Prosecco Hills is Cison di Valmarino, dominated by the Brandolini Castle - today known as Castelbrando. In addition to the beautiful historic centre with its Renaissance palaces, the small hamlets of the town, entirely made of stone, are worth a visit: Tovena, a rural village of almost all recovered stone houses, Mura and Rolle, the latter immersed in the green Prosecco vineyards. From Cison you can also reach the Strada dei Cento Giorni (Hundred Days Road), a great engineering work carried out by the Austrians during the Great War.
The most beautiful villages in Italy: Follina
Also along the Strada del Prosecco we meet the last Treviso location to be included among the most beautiful villages in Italy: Follina. The largest heritage of the city is represented by the splendid Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria with the characteristic cloister. It seems that the monks were the ones who introduced what had been the main craft activity of Follina for centuries: the processing or "fulling" of wool (to which the town owes its name).
Today only one manufacture survives of this age-old tradition, but continues to produce fine fabrics that are used by the most prestigious brands of international fashion.
The most beautiful villages in Italy: Portobuffolè
The last of the most beautiful villages in Italy in the Province of Treviso is perhaps the least known but just as fascinating: Portobuffolè, on the border with the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
Portobuffolè is the smallest Treviso municipality both in terms of surface and population, only 5 square kilometres for about 750 inhabitants.
To see Casa Gaia, residence of Gaia da Camino in the fourteenth century, Piazza Maggiore and Porta Friuli: the Livenza river once flowed under the stone bridge. The perfect opportunity to savour the medieval atmosphere of this little jewel in the province of Treviso is the historical re-enactment of the 13th century Portobuffolè with medieval dinner, equestrian tournament, games and costume parade held every year on a summer weekend.