Fields and rural villages

The route

Start and finish at Lama di Valle Rosa

A route through the productive heart of the Ferrara countryside. Passing through fields of cereals, soya, sugar beet and orchards, you discover a landscape deeply shaped by human hands, where centuries of land reclamation have created a remarkable balance between earth and water, allowing agriculture to thrive as in few other parts of Italy. The route runs entirely along quiet roads and unpaved tracks — suitable for everyone, including occasional cyclists.

1. 1

   Via Sgarbata

   4.7 km

   Leave the agriturismo and turn left along Via Sgarbata, cycling for about 4.7 km through open countryside, passing the small hamlets of Borgo Sgarbata, Borgo Colombara and Borgo Bassi. The road ends at a stop sign: you have arrived in San Bartolomeo in Bosco.

2. 2

   San Bartolomeo in Bosco — Via Masi

   4.2 km

   San Bartolomeo in Bosco was founded in 1735 following land reclamation works carried out by the cardinals who administered the former Este duchy. The original 1783 church was destroyed by bombing at the end of World War II and rebuilt in 1954, consecrated in 1959 as it stands today; the bell tower is the original, simple like the buildings of that era. Opposite stands a handsome mid-nineteenth-century villa, contemporary with other manor houses that survived the heavy bombing raids of the last days of April 1945, when the war was almost over. The main road, named after Count Bartolomeo Masi, runs straight for about 4.2 km, with houses, shops and a small centre around the church.

3. 3

   Museum of Rural Civilisation — Via Imperiale 265

   0.6 km

   At the end of Via Masi, turn right along Via Imperiale for 600 metres to reach the Museum of Rural Civilisation (officially the Centro di Documentazione del Mondo agricolo Ferrarese). Founded in the mid-1980s through a collaboration between Ferrara's Ethnographic Centre and Guido Scaramagli, a passionate collector of peasant life objects from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it holds around 30,000 artefacts displayed in their original context: a VILLAGE section with shops and meeting places as they were a century ago, a faithfully reconstructed RURAL HOUSE, an AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY section, and an exhibition of travelling craftsmen represented by mannequins carrying their wares. Open every morning; afternoon visits available by appointment.

4. 4

   Stradone del Gallo (return)

   1.4 km + 2.4 km gravel

   On leaving, turn right back along Via Imperiale for 1.4 km, then turn right onto the Stradone del Gallo, an unpaved track. Follow it for about 2.4 km and you arrive directly in front of Lama di Valle Rosa.