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Veja Bridge ☀️ Valpolicella
- Category What to do Lake Garda and Verona
Veja Bridge: the magnificent natural work that inspired Dante Alighieri and Mantegna.
Number of views: 5389Agriturismo - Where to stay overnight
The Ponte di Veja is the perfect destination for anyone who wants to pair a mountain hike with a first-rate geological discovery, all amid the verdant hills and bright skies of the Lessinia plateau.
Regarded as the largest natural stone arch in Europe, the Ponte di Veja ranks among Italy’s most important geological sites. Studies show that the arch is the surviving rim of a primordial karst cave whose roof collapsed after millions of years of water erosion. Only when you stand at the base do you grasp its full scale: a 50-metre span towering almost 30 m above the stream bed.
Beneath the arch lie two caves that have yielded stone tools and animal bones from the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, proof that Neanderthals occupied this corner of Lessinia more than 60,000 years ago. Pause in silence and the drip of water, the rustle of leaves seem to summon those distant inhabitants.
The site has inspired artists down the centuries. Andrea Mantegna painted it as a rocky backdrop in the famous Camera degli Sposi at Mantua’s Ducal Palace. Local lore also claims that Dante Alighieri, exiled in Verona, drew on the arch when describing the Bridge over the Malebolge—the Eighth Circle of Hell—in the Divine Comedy.
The main path starts from the Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo car park (about a 10-minute walk). For a longer outing, CAI trail 252 forms a loop from the bridge up to the Contrà Sengia plateau, passing alpine pastures and viewpoints that sweep from the Carega range to Lake Garda. Plan on around two hours and 230 m of ascent; sturdy boots are essential.
Near the arch you’ll find a small café, picnic tables and an interpretive area with panels on karst geology and the wildlife of the SIC “Ponti di Veja.” In spring look for the rare carnivorous alpine butterwort in bloom; in autumn migrating raptors often ride the thermals rising from the valley.
