Tour of the rice – the essence of Verona – tourist guide of Mantua and Verona

Rice tour

In the land around Verona, in the last few centuries, besides wine also rice grows. The products of these cultivations gave birth to a traditional Veronese dish, the risotto all’amarone. In the province of Verona large scale rice growing originated in the middle of the 16th century, ever since the privileged soil of the south-western Province of Verona, known as la Bassa Veronese, was to be appreciated for the presence of numerous fresh water sources.

In fact, it is just near one of these sources of fresh water, very near a provincial road which leads to Isola della Scala, that our exploration of the origin and peculiarity of rice growing in this area will begin. Furthermore, in fact, in this area a particular type of rice, called Vialone Nano is planted, which is very resistant to parasites thus favoring a good harvest. Among levees and roads, right in the midst of big rice fields, big Villas of traditional Venetian and Veronese aristocracy can be detected. This is the case of Villa Pindemonte al Vo’, built in 1742 in the center of such a family’s property, whose ancestor Giovanni de Pindemonte had bought the land in 1435 with the intention of planting cultivations. After a drying process, the rice was taken to the so called pile where the dehusked rice would be polished. Today remains la “Pila Vecchia”, which belongs to the Ferron family, being the oldest still active rice-mill within Italy.

Valeggio's tortellini

Tour of the Vialone-Nano-rice

Rice tour