The Pro Loco of Sandrigo, the Confraternity of Bacalà alla Vicentina and the Via Querinissima join the illustrious organizations that sponsor the 2023 European Orienteering Championships, valid as World Cup Finals. A special synergy that has its roots in the history and culture of the Veneto and Vicenza. Let’s find out together!

On 8 October Vicenza will host the knock-out Sprint final of the 2023 European Championships but it is impossible to name the city without imagining the heady scent of one of the traditional recipes that continue, even today, to promote its identity in the world.

We are obviously talking about the Bacalà alla Vicentina, an ancient dish of the Venetian gastronomic culture with over 400 years of history which since 1987 has been protected and promoted with great passion by the Confraternity of Bacalà alla Vicentina of Sandrigo, a town in the province of Vicenza.

The origins of this famous recipe date back to the feat of Pietro Querini, the Venetian merchant who, back in 1431, following a shipwreck in Norway, discovered and brought to Italy stockfish dried by the north winds.

To celebrate the adventure, the international association Via Querinissima was founded in June 2022, which combines the names of the Serenissima and Pietro Querini, with the aim of enhancing the historical-cultural path linked to the itinerary made by the merchant through 14 countries Europeans to return to Venice from the Lofoten Islands.

Precisely to honor the strong connection that the European Championships will also establish between the Scandinavian countries and Vicenza, at the beginning of August the EOC Organizing Committee will carry out a relay from the Lofoten Islands to Venice along part of the Via Querinissima.

From the Island of Røst, some reference regions of the route and cities that symbolize international sporting culture will be visited, such as Lillehammer, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, as will Veneto in 2026, Oslo, where a meeting will take place with a representative of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, and Gothenburg.

The European Championships will also be officially presented as part of the Festival of Bacalà alla Vicentina in Sandrigo, which is attended by as many as 50,000 people every year.

At the same time, the Confraternity will attend the award ceremony of the knock-out Sprint final in Vicenza on 8 October, at the end of which a small tasting of the succulent dish will be held in the hospitality area.