Ferrara di Monte Baldo
Ferrara di Monte Baldo is a small mountain municipality in the province of Verona, set on the eastern slopes of Monte Baldo, the p...
Updated 12 July 2026
The story
The story of Ferrara di Monte Baldo
On Monte Baldo, Between Garda and the Adige
Ferrara di Monte Baldo occupies a slope of Monte Baldo, the long pre-Alpine ridge that separates Lake Garda from the Adige valley, in the northern part of the province of Verona. The municipal territory spans a wide range of altitude, from the valley floor up to high-mountain elevations, and this is reflected in an extremely varied landscape: broadleaf woods at the lower elevations, beech forests and then conifers further up, and finally pastures and rock at the highest peaks. The views opening up from the municipal territory are among the widest in the area, stretching from Lake Garda to the Piccole Dolomiti, taking in the Verona plain along the way.
The "Garden of Europe": The Flora of Monte Baldo
Monte Baldo has been known among botanists and naturalists since the Renaissance as the "Hortus Europae", the Garden of Europe, for the exceptional concentration of plant species it hosts, many of them endemic, meaning they occur only on this massif and nowhere else in the world. The mountain's position, straddling the Mediterranean climate of Lake Garda and an alpine climate, combined with its varied exposures and altitudes, has over time created an ideal environment for plant diversification. Ferrara di Monte Baldo, which occupies one of the botanically richest slopes, has for centuries been a destination for naturalists and scholars, and remains today one of the prime gateways to this heritage.
The Novezzina Botanical Garden
Within the Novezzina Scientific Nature Park, at 1,232 metres on the eastern slope of Monte Baldo, lies the Novezzina Botanical Garden, created in 1989 by the Baldo Mountain Community. Covering about 20,000 square metres, the garden collects and presents, for educational, conservation and scientific purposes, hundreds of native plant species of the massif, deliberately excluding plants imported from other environments. Species that can be observed include rarities such as Campanula petraea, Primula spectabilis, Carex baldensis and numerous wild orchids. The park also includes a mountain refuge, a shop for local products, and the only public astronomical observatory in the province of Verona, rounding out the site's scientific and naturalistic offer.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona
Within the administrative territory of Ferrara di Monte Baldo stands one of Italy's most spectacular sanctuaries, the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona, set into a rock face at 775 metres above sea level, overhanging the Adige valley. Its neo-Gothic facade, decorated with marble from Sant'Ambrogio and flanked by a 33-metre bell tower, houses a place of worship whose origins go back to a 15th-century hermitage, later turned into a sanctuary in the 17th century by the Knights of Malta. Most pilgrims and visitors reach it via the famous staircase of over 1,500 steps that begins in Spiazzi, a hamlet of the neighbouring municipality of Caprino Veronese — a detail that shows how, in the mountains, administrative borders matter less than the paths people actually choose to walk.
A High-Altitude Municipality, Between Nature and Skiing
Ferrara di Monte Baldo is a very small municipality whose economy relies largely on mountain tourism spread across the seasons: hiking and nature observation in summer, skiing and winter sports in the cold season, thanks to its proximity to the ski facilities on the Baldo plateau. It is not a high-volume destination like the nearby towns on Lake Garda, and this allows it to keep a more authentic character, made up of mountain refuges, alpine huts and small family-run accommodations. For those seeking clean air, sweeping views, and the chance to combine a botanical walk with a spiritual visit to the sanctuary, Ferrara di Monte Baldo remains one of the most complete destinations on the whole massif.
Experiences not to miss
- Visit the Novezzina Botanical Garden and its endemic species of Monte Baldo
- Reach the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona, set into the rock above the Adige valley
- Stargaze at the only public astronomical observatory in the province of Verona, in Novezzina
- Walk through beech forests and high-altitude pastures with views over Lake Garda
- Ski on the Baldo plateau during the winter season
To see
What to see in Ferrara di Monte Baldo
Routes · Trovido Route
