Leaving the car in the square of Baone, from the road that leads to Valle San Giorgio, you reach via Lucerna and ascend along a stretch of paved road. You then take a dirt road bordered by hedges of field maple, Chinese mulberry, brambles, hawthorn, and lilac, turning left and continuing alongside an olive grove. Along the way, on the exposed rock faces of latite, you can notice typical onion-like exfoliations, a weathering phenomenon that occurs in homogeneous rocks exposed to the elements. Continue to a fork where, proceeding right among black hornbeams, hop-hornbeams, robinias, and ashes, you discover an undergrowth rich in asparagus, hedge elm, maple, hawthorn, butcher's broom, and priest's cap, named for the characteristic shape of its fruits. At the next fork, you ascend left and can observe elms, cornels, maples, and ashes, up to a clearing. Continuing on the right, you notice that the vegetation becomes sparser, predominantly consisting of robinia; after a long stretch, you encounter the detour to the ruins of the medieval castle of the da Baone family. A stone staircase leads to its ruins, which deserve careful exploration. Returning to the main path, you meet an oak forest followed again by robinias; further ahead, beside the barrier, several beautiful specimens of Judas tree stand out.
The trail descends, and after a long stretch, you arrive at the ruins of Casa Bolcato, then enter a denser forest predominantly made up of mixed species and robinia.
At the fork, turn right, continuing into a forest where the vegetation appears richer, with the presence of hornbeams, Judas trees, wild roses, cornels, maples, oaks, elderflowers, and other species. Exiting the forest, you burst into the characteristic dry meadows known as vegri, where the precious Patavian rue and various species of orchids bloom. The descent continues and passes through a grove of oak with junipers and black hornbeams; you then cross a charming agricultural landscape until you reach a dirt road that leads to the asphalt road; from here, to the left, you return to Baone.
VEGRO DEL MONTE CECILIA
The term vegro describes arid, stony, and unproductive sedimentary land formed from a limestone substrate, especially in chips. A scorched meadow with a patchy herbaceous cover and thickets of hawthorn, broom, etc.
In the Euganean Hills, the most important expanses are found at the foothills of Monte Cecilia, the southern slope of Monte Calbarina, and the localities of Mottolone and Sassonegro.
For their high function in maintaining biodiversity, the "vegri of the Euganei" have been recognized at the community level as habitats to be protected.
Notable are the blossomings of wild orchids belonging to different genera, and, in some of them, also due to the presence of Patavian rue.
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