The departure point is on the seafront at Lazzaretto, a few meters from the Slovenian border, on the edge of the Bay of San Bartolomeo, which preserves Roman ruins and was once a point of embarkation for pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. The route runs along the perimeter wall of Lazzaretto, inaugurated in 1869 to stem the possible arrival of exotic epidemics by ship, then climbs the slope and enters the area of woods and former farmland known, in part, as the Archduke’s Forest, as it was once owned by the naturalist and traveler Ludovico Salvatore D’Asburgo Lorena. Climbing up through the residential area of Fontanella, you reach an altitude of 170 meters at the viewpoint of the Archaeological Park surrounding the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Muggia Vecchia. The basilica, known for its Giotto-style frescoes, is the only remaining building of a medieval settlement destroyed in the 13th century. Previously, the hill was home to an Iron Age fortified settlement and, most likely, a Roman villa rustica. A steep descent along a centuries-old devotional path, which passes the small church of San Sebastiano, leads to the historic center of Muggia, built in typical Venetian style, with its walls and ancient gates, castle, mandracchio (small harbor), and cathedral. From the center, head up towards the hamlet of Santa Barbara/Korošci, where you will find another interesting archaeological site on Monte Castellier, including the Elleri fortified settlement and a necropolis. Pass some sandstone quarries, the characteristic Muggia stone that is very compact and hard to cut, cross a small bridge over the former Parenzana railway line, now an international cycle path to Istria, to reach the few houses of Rabuiese/Rabujez and its complex road network. This brings us to the Laghetti delle Noghere biotope, with several small artificial lakes, continuing along the track at the foot of Bosco Vignano. You arrive uphill among terraces mostly cultivated with olive trees, at the hilltop village of Caresana/Mačkolje, from where a path, which begins in the dense Bosco Tre Confini forest, leads to Dolina, in the Breg Valley, to its small square in front of the church of San Ulderico. Passing through Crogole/Kroglje, where there is a centuries-old lime tree near the small church of the Holy Trinity, you reach the destination of the first stage, the village of Bagnoli della Rosandra/Boljunec, where you will find the entrance to the Val Rosandra Regional Nature Reserve and the Antro di Bagnoli, a karstic resurgence cave.
