Discover the beauty of the villages with a treasure hunt: 100 Orange Flags are revealed between play and beauty

2023-09-20 11:01:22

Imagine yourself searching for secret clues in the shadow of ancient castles, among the narrow paved streets inside an ancient city wall, among music that wafts through the air and characters in period costumes that add color and warmth. Sunday 8 October the fourth edition of the Hunt for Orange Treasures of the Touring Club Italiano, the initiative open to adults and children, families, groups of friends, which invites you to discover the small excellences of the Italian hinterland, offering moments of authentic wonder. An unusual and fun way to get to know 100 excellent inland villages certified with the Orange Flag – those with less than 15 thousand inhabitants who satisfy more than 250 rigorous evaluation criteria – and thus immerse themselves in culture, thousand-year-old traditions, stories and curiosities, savoring gastronomic delights.
And Cison di Valmarino, an enchanted village at the foot of the Treviso Prealps, a Montecarlo in Tuscanyfamous for its fine wines, passing through the thermal waters of Castrocaro Terme in Emilia-Romagna and the hidden treasures of Pietramontecorvino in Pugliathe journey through i villages of Italy it will be an unforgettable experience. Once the six-stage journey has been completed, a gift representing the territory will be delivered to each participating team.

If you are passionate about good food, choose one Food and wine hunting. Among the proposals, Cison di Valmarinoland of Prosecco Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG. The clues that will be revealed will lead the participants to taste – stage after stage – the typical products and dishes of the area such as, for example, the spit (a local dish prepared with pork, chicken and rabbit cooked on a spit for at least seven hours and served with mixed side dishes including radicchio and polenta) and buzholà biscuits (round biscuits with a central hole, from the Cisona tradition, made with egg yolks, flour and butter, perfect with Prosecco). The starting point, with a choice of time between 9.30 and 16.30, is the town’s tourist office, Case Marian, in Piazza Brandolini. An opportunity also to admire the La Loggia theatre, visit the Vintage Radio Museum or enjoy a walk in nature, along the Via dell’Acqua which rises from the historic center along the stream Red where the ancient mills are still visible up to the San Daniele Valley.

©2020 Lorenzo De Simone

For those who love music, the choice of Musical Hunt it is vast. TO Montecarloin the province of Luccaa medieval walled village built on a panoramic hill between Valdinievole and the Lucchese plain, the itinerary that will take visitors inside and outside the walls will be accompanied by live music and singing at each stage (it starts from the tourist office in Via Roma 7, during a free time between 11am and 18). We move around the castle founded in 1330 by order of Charles IV of Bohemia and then fortified by the Medici. Between a stop and a curious clue, don’t miss the eighteenth-century theater of the Accademia dei Ramminati.

Ladies, knights and men-at-arms will instead be the protagonists of the Hunting in Costume Of Castrocaro Termea pretty medieval village and stylish spa centre Art Deco. By playing, trying to understand the various suggestions proposed, it will be a way to dive into the past, also with demonstrations of ancient activities to discover on site (afternoon from 3pm to 7pm, starting from the IAT). It is also worth making time for a visit to the medieval fortress. It is composed of three distinct architectural and defensive works: the Girone, which constitutes the oldest part, the Rocca, which is nothing other than the thirteenth-fourteenth century expansion of the Girone, and the Medici Arsenals. Inside the fortress, a permanent exhibition of historical artefacts has been set up, from prehistory to the Etruscan, Roman, Lombard and Byzantine periods, up to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and beyond: flints, jewellery, coins, medals, glass, majolica, weapons , parchments, writings and drawings.
Finally the Classic Treasure Hunt you can try it in several countries, including Pietramontecorvino in the province of Foggia, a medieval village surrounded by the Daunia mountains, with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. The clues will retreat to Piazza Cavour (from 2pm to midnight), near Port’Alta, and then run in search of objects and other details that lead to the final stage.

Treasure hunt in an Orange Flag village, Corinaldo (AN)

Furthermore, during the day, inside the village, there will be the possibility of taking a free guided tour, starting from the imposing 13th century Norman Tower, composed of a powerful quadrangular crenellated tower almost 40 meters high. Again the Ducal Palace with an elegant reception hall inside, the courtyards and the hanging garden.

From North to South there are numerous Orange Villages where it will be possible to experience this unusual way of discovering the history and traditions of the place. To participate – places are limited – just register your team on the site tesori.bandierearancioni.it and make a donation of a free amount, which will support the projects of the Italian Touring Club so as to allow it to continue its mission: taking care of the small towns in the internal areas of our country, committing itself to their valorisation and accompanying them in the regeneration process. Furthermore, this year, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Orange Flags initiative, when you register you will be able to download it for free from the app Touring on the gothe 2023 guide to Villages to experience in e-book format.