A trip to Reggio Emilia is not complete without a walk in nature a handful of kilometers from the city center, perhaps in the town of Castelnovo ne’ Monti, where there is a very special mountain. The Bismantova Stone vaguely resembles the Ayers Rock, but instead of being in the middle of the Australian red desert it rises in the middle of the Reggio Emilia Apennines. To explore this solitary massif with its craggy white walls, dating back to the lower Middle Miocene, we suggest you tackle the medium-easy Route 1 which, with a length of 16.4 km and an altitude difference of 123 m, guarantees you the best view of nature just a stone’s throw from Reggio. The strong suggestion exercised by the "Pietra" on the visitors also struck Dante who chose it with San Leo and Noli di Savona to depict the impassable walk on the Mount of Purgatory.
From the top of the Stone you can admire a 360° panorama that ranges from the peaks of the Apennine ridge of Reggio Emilia and Parma, to the Emilian plain and the Alps on clear days. This means that visitors will be surprised and impressed by the vastness and beauty of the landscape, as well as by the particularity of this geological formation.
