Miralago: trekking and prehistory on a blue weekend at Revine Lago

Two lovely lakes, mountains, plenty of greenery and a pile-dwelling village similar to the one built by prehistoric man: an ideal place to spend a lovely day with the children. It's easy to say “let's go to the lake”: when you visit Revine Lago, you go to two lakes, or rather, in a sense three, because the hamlet where one of those pretty stretches of water lies is called, precisely, Lago. The area also forms part of a wider tourist itinerary known as the “Via dell'acqua”. We are on the southern side of the Treviso Prealps and nature here speaks of geological events tens of thousands of years ago, when during the Würm glaciation a lake formed here. Indeed, today's Lake Santa Maria (in the hamlet of the same name) and Lake Lago were a single basin until the 13th-14th century, surrounded by marshy land.

It was with the start of the 15th century that part of the area was drained and reclaimed for farming. Today the little lakes, linked to each other by a small channel, are among the favourite destinations of tourists and locals from nearby cities for a bit of summer refreshment in the large equipped green area.

We find our home for the weekend right in front of this natural oasis, just a stone's throw from the Town Hall in the Santa Maria hamlet, at the Ristorante Pizzeria Miralago, which has comfortable rooms with a lovely view.

After settling in, we head down to the restaurant, where we are welcomed with great kindness and friendliness by the owner, Mr Rinaldo Rizzo, who has run this fine establishment together with his wife Claudia since 1979. “My father Giuseppe was the one who built this place. My wife and I took over running it before we were even married, and over the years our passion for our work has kept us together too,” recalls Mr Rinaldo, a chef with long experience behind him, including at some very important restaurants. “This work has given us a lot of satisfaction, but we're getting close to retirement now. Given the potential of the place and the beauty of the setting, I'm sure that whoever comes after us, especially if helped by their children or other staff, will be able to achieve great things here,” the owner confides as he shows us to our table with a lake view.

But there's plenty to delight the eye inside too, where there's a little museum of antique equipment, as well as antique furniture and objects.

Since Mr Rinaldo is known for having won several prizes at pizza championships, many of us opt for the crunchy pizzas, each better than the last. The rest of our group gives in to the pleasures of authentic home cooking: local specialities, very fresh and top-quality ingredients, homemade pasta, generous portions. “A great chef revealed the secret to me: if a dish pleases you, it will please your customers too,” the owner tells us, and after enjoying some excellent tagliatelle with truffle and some delicious meat, we couldn't agree more. When we come back here in the cold months, we'll also be able to sample some game specialities.

We spend the rest of our weekend alternating quiet strolls around town with trekking along the many nature trails and itineraries that climb from the valley floor up the mountains or wind around the lakes.

On the shores of Lake Lago stands the Livelet Archaeological Park, an educational park where children can have fun playing at being prehistoric people while learning lots of interesting things about history and nature. Between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age a pile-dwelling village stood here, which is why the Park's structure is built on stilts, with three authentic huts right by the water. Among the many activities, including workshops, there's even a space for experimental cultivation.

Had we arrived here back when the lakes were one, we could also have admired Monte Frascone castle, which was destroyed at the end of the 13th century. Several beautiful churches are, however, well preserved, including that of Santa Maria, dating back to 1170. During our stroll through the villages, among characteristic porticoes and typical stone houses, we also visit the 17th-century parish church of San Matteo and the sanctuary of San Francesco di Paola, which houses a small but interesting picture gallery inside.

This enchanting landscape, which invites reflection, even gives us poetry: the verses of the great Luciano Cecchinel, born here in 1947. In his lines, for example those in the volume “Al tràgol jért – L'erta strada da strascino”, he devotes intense dialect words to his own land, which after this pleasant weekend has become a little ours too.

Text: Francesca Bertha Consultancy and photographs: Stefano Zanus

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Pizzeria Miralago Via Strada dei Laghi, 18 Revine Lago (TV) Tel.: 0438/929070