Zugliano
Zugliano è un comune della pedemontana vicentina, adagiato sulla riva destra del torrente Astico, tra il crinale meridionale dei c...
Actualizado el 12 julio 2026
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La historia de Zugliano
A territory inhabited for millennia
The earliest traces of human presence in Zugliano probably date to the Bronze Age, with finds of ceramic fragments, tools and worked flints in the flat area of Pescare and the hilly area of San Biagio and Larghe. In Roman times the area was steadily inhabited, as shown by a rustic villa and other structures along the Igna stream, dated to the second century AD. These finds confirm a continuity of settlement that, passing through the early Middle Ages, leads up to the formation of the villages that make up the municipality today.
Benedictine reclamation and the birth of Grumolo
The decisive role in transforming the landscape belongs to the Benedictine monks who, from the seventh-eighth century onward, reclaimed the marshy plain at the foot of the hills and began clearing the lower slopes, while the higher part of the Bregonze remained wooded until well into the seventeenth century. In this context the rural commune of Grumolo Pedemonte was born, first documented in 1262 and formally established in the fourteenth century, one of the many forms of rural self-government that regulated the life of the hill community for centuries, until administrative unification in 1816. The church of San Biagio, Grumolo's ancient parish church predating the year 1000, remains the oldest still-standing monument of the Bregonze hills.
The landscape of the Bregonze hills
The territory of Zugliano lies between the irrigated plain and the first hilly terrain, offering a varied landscape of vineyards, olive groves, coppice woods and small villages perched on the ridges. The Bregonze hills, of volcanic origin like much of the Vicenza foothills, hold hiking and scenic trails looking out over the plain below and, on clearer days, toward the Prealps. The Pescare area, once a marsh, is now fully cultivated farmland, evidence of how human work has profoundly transformed the territory's geography over the centuries.
Wine, oil and foothill produce
The hills of Zugliano, thanks to their exposure and soil, are well suited to growing vines and olives, in keeping with the farming tradition of the Vicenza foothills. Small local farms produce wine and extra-virgin olive oil mainly for family use and niche sale, while the plain retains traditional cereal crops. Not being a town with the strong wine-tourism draw of other parts of the province, Zugliano still offers a chance to discover genuine hillside farming, less known but just as rooted in the culture of the foothill area.
Local life and economy
With over 6,700 inhabitants spread between Centrale and Grumolo Pedemonte, Zugliano today has a mixed economy, combining small craft and manufacturing businesses typical of the Vicenza foothills with farming still present both on the plain and in the hills. Its closeness to towns such as Thiene and Schio encourages commuting to nearby industrial areas, while village life keeps a calm pace, marked by the farming seasons and by religious traditions tied to the area's old parish churches.
Getting there and surroundings
Zugliano lies just a few kilometres from Thiene and Schio, easily reached via the provincial road that runs through the Vicenza foothills, and is about 20 kilometres from Vicenza. Its location at the foot of the Bregonze makes it a convenient stop for exploring the hill area between the Astico and Brenta rivers, with the option of continuing on to other foothill towns or climbing toward the Asiago plateau. The marked historical trails at Grumolo Pedemonte offer a guided route through the hamlet's most significant sites.
Experiences not to miss
- Visit the parish church of San Biagio at Grumolo Pedemonte, among the oldest monuments of the Bregonze hills
- Follow the marked historical trails in the hillside hamlet of Grumolo
- Walk or cycle among the Bregonze hills, through vineyards, olive groves and woods
- Discover the archaeological finds that testify to a millennia-old settlement
- Taste the wine and oil produced by small local farms
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