Places to be savoured slowly, where you can breathe history and where time seems to have stopped.
One of the most emblematic examples of rural stone architecture in Lessinia is the Madonna della Lobbia, near Contrada Pagani in Campofontana (Selva di Progno).
It depicts the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in her arms. According to local legend, this work was an attempt (later abandoned) to create the image for the altar of the Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows), erected in the church of Campofontana in 1837. It is thought that a parish priest from the town commissioned a statue of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows from an unknown local sculptor, who identified a block of rock near Malga Lobbia di Sotto and set to work. After realising that the block was flawed, however, he left the work in place, unfinished.
Today, it has become the symbol of Lessinia's Cimbrian architecture.
The Hypogeum of Santa Maria in Stelle (commonly known as 'the Pantheon') is a one-of-a-kind archaeological site and place of Christian worship.
The site is located in the village of the same name, Santa Maria in Stelle, and appears to be an underground space of the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. It started out as a Roman aqueduct and underwent many developments over the centuries: from a nymphaeum for water worship to a baptismal font, and a medieval pilgrimage destination in between.
In 2018, after being closed for almost a decade for a detailed study of its internal microclimate and delicate restoration work on its precious frescoes, the Hypogeum opened its doors to the public, starting a new chapter in its history.
