Campiglia dei Berici
Campiglia dei Berici si trova nel cuore dei Colli Berici, a sud di Vicenza, un territorio collinare di origine calcarea noto per i...
Mis à jour le 12 juillet 2026
Le récit
L'histoire de Campiglia dei Berici
Among the limestone hills of the Berici
The territory of Campiglia dei Berici stretches along the Riviera Berica, the road that runs south from Vicenza through the entire Colli Berici hill range. This is a limestone landscape of marine origin, with gentle hills covered in woods and vineyards, quite different from the Vicenza Prealps further north: there are no mountains here, but a hilly plateau that rarely rises above 400 metres. It is a genuinely agricultural territory, with small scattered villages and a modest population density, which in recent decades has begun focusing on slow tourism built around food and wine, cycling and low-altitude hiking.
Villa Repeta: Palladio's plan that went up in smoke
The best-known monument in Campiglia dei Berici is Villa Repeta, though its story is more complex than it appears. Around 1557 Andrea Palladio designed a villa for Mario Repeta with a continuous Doric-order portico running entirely horizontally around a rectangular courtyard, known today only through the plates of the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The original building was destroyed by a fire at an unspecified date between 1640 and 1672, when Enea and Scipione Repeta had the current villa built, which retains some elements of Palladio's design - such as the cornice where the old loggias once opened - but is substantially a different work, with visible traces of fire damage still remaining.
The vineyards of the Colli Berici
The limestone soil and hillside exposure make the Colli Berici, and therefore Campiglia's territory as well, an area suited to viticulture, recognised by the Colli Berici DOC designation. Among the most widely grown grape varieties, Tai Rosso stands out as a native variety particularly linked to this area, alongside Merlot, Cabernet and Garganega. The area's wineries, often family-run, offer tastings and direct sales rather than large postcard-style cellars: it is a wine culture rooted in the land, less spectacular than that of the Veneto's more famous zones but capable of surprising those who take the time to stop.
Covoli, caves and legends of the Berici
The Colli Berici are famous for their covoli, spaces carved into the limestone rock used since prehistoric times as shelters and, in more recent periods, as hiding places during wartime raids. The phenomenon is particularly concentrated around the villages of Lumignano and Costozza, not far from Campiglia, where the caves are more numerous and better documented. In the wider Berici area, of which Campiglia is part, this karst landscape of cavities, springs and flint outcrops tells of an extremely ancient human presence, dating back to the Lower Palaeolithic: a good reason to extend a visit to the neighbouring villages, without assuming every covolo lies within the municipality itself.
A quiet agricultural municipality
Aside from Villa Repeta, Campiglia dei Berici remains a municipality of a few thousand residents with a predominantly agricultural character, without large accommodation facilities or a particularly monumental old centre. It is the kind of place visited more for its landscape and for a targeted cultural stop than for an extended stay: those looking for nightlife or major events will be disappointed, while those who appreciate cultivated hills, local wine and a slower pace of life will find Campiglia a pleasant stop along the Riviera Berica.
Experiences not to miss
- Admire Villa Repeta and its story linked to (and interrupted by) Palladio
- Taste wines from the Colli Berici DOC at a local winery
- Cycle along the Riviera Berica through vineyards and hills
- Visit the rock-carved covoli caves in the nearby villages of Lumignano and Costozza
- Go low-altitude hiking through the limestone woods of the Colli Berici
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