Springs, permanent meadows, mills, paddy fields and Palladian villas
Water is the natural link of a territory that offers the tourist pristine stretches adorned with precious Venetian and Palladian villas, mills, farmsteads and other typical rural architectures as well as fortification ruins, heritage of medieval historical events, and worship places telling about people’s religiousness.
The water resource has always characterized the ground use and shaped the whole territory. From Romans to Benedictines, from the Republic of Venice up till today: the coexistence between water, man and lands has always been the growth factor of the landscape system and the rural economy.
One of the most interesting water phenomena are springs emerging spontaneously from the ground. They provide water to the many rivers of the territory, thus allowing the presence of permanent meadows that feed the cattle with fodder all year round.
Tesina and Ceresone, the two main rivers, together with irrigation ditches, such as Tergola, Tribolo, Armedola, Tesinella and other smaller creeks, have encouraged the development of a kind of agriculture that is based on highly water demanding crops, primarily rice, which, together with corn, is a symbol product of the area, that mainly grows in the paddy fields located in the southern area of the territory.
Several signs testify the use of water for irrigation, hydroelectric purposes and production: the presence of artefacts and hydraulic works such as sluices and draining pumps is remarkable. Hydroelectric plants and several well preserved mills, sometimes still in operation, are present in the territory.