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20 beds, 1 yoga studio, 0 stress

Vidovina: your forest farmhouse retreat.

Welcome to Vidovina in the Apennine hills between Ravenna, Bologna and Florence. With its comfy rooms, massive yoga studio and great location, this is a perfect place to retreat and recharge with a group of up to 20 people.

Built as a luxury farmhouse ('podere') in the 40's, we bought the place in 2010 and have been renovating until 2015, working with locally styles and materials as much as possible. The result is a simple, comfortable home that looks and feels like it did when we first saw it: spacious, functional, sober and authentic. Expect no exquisite decorations or marble bathrooms here, it's a farmhouse. Its luxury lies in the abundance of privacy and space: great rooms, big terrace, huge studio and lots of nooks and crannies to discover. And a night sky you rarely see.

Due to its private location in nature, this place tends to bring out the primitive side in guests. Many come in full of plans to see cultural highlights in the region, but soon they find themselves gather some wood, build a fire, sigh in relief and stare at the world in the distance.

This off-the-grid aspect, without the noise of smartphones, busy jobs or stress, allows you to (re)connect with yourself and others. Deeply relaxing. Before you know it, you’ll start to get up when the sun rises, have siestas and forget about time altogether.

The fresh air and absolute silence makes for deep sleeps at night and peaceful slumber during the day, and if you do this long enough, you’ll resurface relaxed and recharged, full of energy and ideas. This precisely why we love the place so much.

Vidovina lies on top of a hill that gives you great vistas over the valley and nearby ridges. You'll see that the park which the farmhouse lies is situated within the larger Parco Regionale della Vena del Gesso Romagnola (Gypsum Vein Park), which is perfect for hiking, mountain-biking and gypsum cave excursions. But even a short stroll through the woods or vineyards behind the house is great. There's probably a pheasant, deer or porcupine behind the next corner...

Two kilometers away lies Casola Valsenio, a small but nice farmer's village that doesn't see many tourists, despite its lively character, interesting culinary festivals and ancient herb garden. Main sites in the village are the Cardello house at the park entrance, the nearby Valsenio Church, both from the 11th century, and the cliff overlooking the Senio River on which the village is built. Casola's got some nice spots to walk/swim near the river, a big public swimming pool during summer a couple of truly stunning natural ponds a short drive away.

Closeby are the lovely towns of Palazzuolo Sul Senio, Riolo Terme and Borgo Tossignano, which are interesting towns to visit within a 15 km radius. A little further you'll find Imola, Faenza, Forli and Brisighella, all of which are beautiful towns with lots of history, culture, natural beauty, and that great Romagnolo food to taste. These places are great for half-day trips. Full-day trips to the cultural powerhouses of Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara and Florence are easily organized, especially if you have your own transportation.

That said, most people who planned to make all kinds of trips find these plans disappear once Vidovina's rhythm sets in...

SPECIFICATIONS

Beds – 20
Bedrooms – 6
Bathrooms – 4
Living room – 28 m2
Kitchen – 20 m2
Studio – 80 m2

ACTIVITIES

Yoga
Cooking
Meditation
Massage
Walking
Relaxing

AMENITIES

Wifi
Dishwasher
Washing machine

Yoga

Big, open, serene: a great studio to give yoga classes.

By far the biggest and most beautiful space of the whole house is the old haystack, which was in a dilapidated state when we first saw it, with the roof caving in and holes in the floor.

Though it took considerable effort to renovate it, it was easy to see the potential of this space. So we opened the front walls, mended the roof, fortified the supporting structure and made a smooth clean floor of about 80 m2. We’re really happy with the result, a massive, gorgeous space that feels like the haystack it once was, perfect for yoga, meditation, workshops and relaxation.

Here's an example of a yoga retreat our friends Marije and Gabriela organized at Vidovina. In some cases there's the option to get assistance with your yoga classes from Marije and/or Gabriela, so please contact us if you have questions or specific activities in mind.

The studio is mostly used for yoga classes and was rebuilt with this specific idea in mind. We’ve hosted several yoga retreats and classes of up to 20 students in this space and have yoga-mats, blocks and blankets available upon request. We’ve set up a simple altar for meditation and made sure that there are enough shower facilities to handle a group of students after class.

Aside from the yoga studio, there are a number of sublime locations nearby to have outdoor classes. Examples are medieval ruins of Monte Battaglia, the herb garden Giardino delle Erbe and the abandoned village of Castiglioncello, all of which complement the yoga studio greatly if you like to mix it up a little.

STUDIO SPECIFICATIONS

Width – 11 m
Lenght – 7 m
Height – 5 m
Floor – smooth, painted concrete

ACTIVITIES

Yoga
Meditation
Painting / drawing / sculpting
Workshops / training / events
Party / dancing
Relax / cinema

AMENITIES

yoga mats/blocks/straps/blankets
bluetooth speaker 30W comfy chairs
massage tables

Rooms

Spacious rooms, soberly decorated, comfortably furnished.

The central spaces inside the house are the living room and the kitchen. The living room has a dinner table the size of an Italian family, an indoor fireplace, a wood stove, a couch and comfy chairs to relax.

Next door there’s the kitchen, with granite tops and a big oak kitchen table, well equipped with a 5-pits gas stove and oven, 2 fridges, a microwave and a dishwasher, an abundance of kitchen appliances and enough plates, glasses and cutlery to serve you all.

We spent considerable energy to make the private spaces really comfortable. The house consists of 6 big bedrooms with terracotta floors, white walls and high ceilings. The interior is really simple, somewhat monastery-like. Beds are full sized singles, with comfy mattresses, summer duvets and fluffy cushions, all covered in clean, white, cotton linens. We used the wood of a huge pine tree that got blown over nearby to create minimalist tables and nightstands.

Comfortably, there are four bathrooms, each with a luxury hot shower and toilet, with the walls and floors all done in rustic Italian ceramics. We provide guests with clean towels and, respecting the environment to which all the water we use is returned, we provide bio-degradable soaps, shampoos and laundry detergent.

For groups bigger than 20 we have a great big Bedouine tent set up in the garden. Stylish, fully waterproof and furbished with exactly the same beds as inside, the tent offers a unique experience for another 6 people.

ROOM SPECIFICATIONS

Bedroom 1 – 4 beds
Bedroom 2 – 3 beds
Bedroom 3 – 3 beds
Bedroom 4 – 2 beds
Bedroom 5 – 2 beds Bedroom 6 – 4 beds

extra - 2 beds

Bathroom 1 – toilet, shower
Bathroom 2 – toilet, shower
Bathroom 3 – toilet, shower, sink Bathroom 4 – toilet, shower, sink Bathroom 5 – toilet, bath, shower, sink

Living room – dinner table, hearth, library (living room can be used as bedroom too)

Kitchen – kitchen table, stove, sink

ACTIVITIES

Yoga
Cooking
Meditation
Walking
Reading
Games

AMENITIES

20 comfy, single beds + linens
Family size dinner table
Hearth + wood stove + wood
5-pits stove, gas oven, microwave Dishwasher, washing machine
Library with 100+ books and games

wifi

Booking and service inquiries

Bookings - You can book Vidovina to organize group retreats or just spend time with family and friends. You'll have the whole place for yourself, so - apart from the occasional mountain biker - you'll be on your own and your privacy is guaranteed. We charge depending on the season. An additional fee is charged for cleaning up afterwards (it's a big place) and we may charge for specific services and/or extra amenities that you request.

Services - Great local food can be arranged in cooperation with restaurant Il Cardello Locanda, which is located right at the entranceof the park, where the Via Piramide to Vidoniva starts. Il Cardello Locanda is renowned in the region for its authentic, locally sourced, home made Romagnolo dishes, which can be ordered straight off the menu in advance: a good option if you don't feel like cooking yourself. Same goes for transportation. Groups who only need occasional transport, for instance from and to Bologna Airport, are sometimes better off renting one or more taxi-buses than renting cars for the whole period. We can arrange this for you, if you give us ample time in advance. Aside from catering and transport, a range of activities can be arranged via us. Our friend Sabrina can drop by to give Ajurvedic massages, while Adele can come and make handmade pasta with you. Last but not least, in some cases local yoga teacher Gabriela and Amsterdam based yoga teacher Marije can give yoga classes too, or assist you with yours. In other words, you can organize your own yoga week with minimal effort.

Just let us know what you want, and we'll try to make it work.

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Address

Vidovina
Via Piramide 5
48010 Casola Valsenio, Italy

T +31 6 41576980
E marten@vidovina.com

Here is the link to the Google Map that you can use to find your way from Bologna Airport to the house. The GPS coordinates of the house are 44.2372205, 11.6266173.

NB we strongly recommend we show you the way to the house the first time.