Sossano: Memory, Architecture and Landscape

Sossano combines remembrance culture, historic architecture and landscape. The range extends from the Museo Civico “Storia - Memoria” and sacred buildings to Monte della Croce and a circular hiking trail overlooking the Val Liona. Visitors interested in culture will find wartime documents and objects relating to the origins of the S. Michele di Sossano ham factory in Sossano’s museum.

Remembrance and Traditional Rural Life

The collection at the Museo Civico “Storia - Memoria” in Colloredo di Sossano comprises around 600 objects from two thematic areas. The first brings together documents and memorabilia from the First and Second World Wars. The second focuses on numerous objects relating to traditional rural life in the Basso Vicentino. The regional focus of the museum’s second section is therefore explicitly the Basso Vicentino.

The museum also displays objects relating to the origins of the renowned S. ham factory. These include a bas-relief depicting the ham production cycle, a counter with ham presses and the famous ham basket.

Churches and Historic Architecture

The Chiesetta dell'Olmo, also known as Beata Vergine dell'Aiuto, is an octagonal chapel with a central-plan layout. Giorgio Massari had it built in its present form between 1727 and 1734. The chapel therefore belongs to an earlier building phase than the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo, completed in 1882. Its octagonal geometry and central-plan layout shape the chapel’s architectural form within Sossano’s historic townscape.

The parish church of San Michele Arcangelo was completed and consecrated in 1882 based on a design by Sebastiano Bazzetta. The building is in the Neo-Palladian style. Neo-Palladian is a stylistic term for an approach based on Palladio’s architecture.

The parish church also contains a stone shrine with the Cristo morto, a work by Niccolò da Venezia. The church thus connects the period of its construction with a specifically attributed work of art.

Villa Loschi Gazzetta preserves a central bifora, or a two-part window, from the early Renaissance, decorated with oak leaves and bees. The oak-leaf and bee decorations are specifically associated with the central bifora. The villa is freely accessible when activities, manifestations and events are held there. For your visit, this specific context is therefore decisive, rather than any generally assumed opening.

Landscape and Trails

Monte della Croce is an excursion and hiking area north of Sossano’s built-up town centre.

A circular hiking trail, primarily of natural-history interest, offers views across the Val Liona. Those who include the circular hiking trail in their plans are focusing on natural history and views of the Val Liona; the historic buildings provide a different emphasis.

The GB1 route also passes through seven municipalities in the Basso Vicentino: Campiglia dei Berici, Sossano, Orgiano, Asigliano Veneto, Pojana Maggiore, Noventa Vicentina and Agugliaro. Sossano is therefore one of the seven municipalities on the route in the Basso Vicentino.

More Destinations for Planning Your Trip

For further comparison when planning your trip to Italy, you can also consider Bosco di Tretto, Sarcedo, Zané, Caldogno, San Germano Dei Berici, Nanto, Montegalda and Belvedere.

For the broader travel overview: Vicenza.