Marcésina , also known as Piana di Marcésina , is a vast plateau located in the northeast of the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni , between the Province of Vicenza and the Province of Trento . Because of its topography and rigid climate is often called the “ Finland of Italy ”.
The spruce and larch woods surrounding the plateau are the habitat of numerous mammals including : roe deer , red deer , fox , badgers , and other small mountains animals . It was also the home of bears but regrettably they disappeared around 1856 .
Today the Plains of Marcésina are the summer home for cattle that graze here and produce the milk that makes Asiago cheese . The families that live here are proud and hard-working people with many stories to tell .
In the northern part of Marcésina there is a small church dedicated to Saint Lorenzo , protagonist of some local legends . The church was rebuilt in 1925 after it was destroyed during the First World War , however almost by miracle the bell tower remained intact .
The plains in ancient times were formerly used by the inhabitants of the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni as grazing for their cattle , but later the area came under bitter conflicts with the shepherds from the Valsugana region , in the Province of Trento .
Ancient dwellings called “ Casoni ” can be found on these plains . They were the homes of the lumberjacks that lived in the area and worked felling logs that were then moved down the mountains to the Brenta River and used to build the foundations for the most famous city in the world : Venice .
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