Author: rose

Sacro Monte (Sacred Mount), Varese, Italy

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The Sacro Monte (Sacred Mount) in Varese (in the Campo dei Fiori Regional Park), belongs to the group of nine pre-Alpine mountains Saints in Piedmont and Lombardy; registered in 2003 in the UNESCO list of World Heritage. It consists of fourteen chapels dedicated to the mysteries of the Rosary, which lead to the sanctuary of ‘Santa Maria del Monte’, a place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages, constituting the fifteenth chapel which retains an organ in 1831. The construction began in 1604, along two kilometers of a plot cobbled. The Borgo di Santa Maria del Monte, where the sanctuary is , is connected to the rest of the city by a small road and also by a historic funicular recently restarted.

Tips

You can park your car in the parking lot and if you do not want to continue on foot, there is an elevator that will take you almost to the top. From there, you have a beautiful view of the city and mountains.

If you do not want to drive with the car in the narrow mountain road, there is a bus that will leave you in the parking lot and you can continue by walking trails or just take the elevator if you do not want to do any effort.

Wear preferably sneakers because it is not easy to go through the cobblestone paths with slippery shoes or heels.

Val David, Laurentians, Quebec, Canada

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Val David is a municipality village in Quebec, 80 km north of Montreal, halfway between Saint-Sauveur and Mont-Tremblant; picturesque village in the Laurentians, is a famous place to go climbing. The area has the regional Val-David Val-Morin Park where other that climbing, you will find plenty of trails for hiking, forest walking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing and skiing Nordic. This is where we also find the famous Santa Claus Village, the Linear Park the P’tit Train du Nord, 1001 Pots exhibition (the largest ceramics exhibition in North America), the Val David Market, farmer’s market of more than 60 stalls, among others. In the village, there are also many artists and craftsmen who stablished there.

Tips

The village has several events in the year, you can visit their website for the schedule.
It is a beautiful place to wander around the four seasons. You can rent cottages or stay in hostels or hotels in the area. A very special time is in the fall when the leaves change colors.

 

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Aigues-Mortes, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

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Aigues-Mortes is a French commune in the Gard department in Languedoc-Roussillon, 35 km from Nimes and 30 km from Montpellier. It is connected to the sea through the channel of Grau-du-Roi. The city itself is at a crossroads channels. It is also a medieval town of the thirteenth century, where there are many monuments and vestiges of the Middle Ages. The town is an ancient fortified city that was originally a small fishing village and salt gatherers. There are 1640m² of walls that keep well, with six towers, the best known is the Constance Tower and ten doors. It was Louis IX who built the canal to have an opening on the East for his crusades (XIII century). Its economy is based on salt with a production of 500,000 tons per year. Currently, she is also a tourist resort too. To see: the ramparts; Carbonnière Tower that protected the city from any invasion by land; the Church of Our Lady of Sablons, the Chapel of Grey Penitents and the Chapel of White penitents, among others.

Tips

For the best pictures, go on the ramparts; you will also have a beautiful view of the entire region of the Camargue.
Also consult the schedule at the tourist office as there are several events and performances on the ramparts all year long.
If you visit the city in the second week of October, you can attend the celebration of the end of the harvest and the end of the harvest salt.