Places to See in South Tyrol

Even today, the custom-manufactured railway built for the special environment of the Stelvio National Park transports the heavy marble blocks over four sections almost automatically down into the valley.

The marble-transporting train has been operated in the same original state since 1930 and carries the marble from the marble quarry (2,200 m above sea level) to the valley. With the Lasa sloped railway, it is possible to transport a 40-ton load at a speed of 1m/sec in 16 minutes in to the valley. To date, this type of transport is the most environmentally-friendly method of transportation of marble thusfar. During the marble hikes, interested guests can also visit the unique inclined railway.

The coat of arms has five red dots along the diagonals on a silver field. The motif comes from the shield of the noble of Goldegg.

The mountain lake of Covelano/Göflan is idyllically situated in the Stelvio National Park, above the Covelano marble quarry and at the foot of Jennwand summit.

Refreshments stop: Göflaneralm, Haslhof

The Schreiberhouse is one of the oldest and best conserved buildings in Jenesien. It was built in the 16. century and was designated as a historic monument. 

The valley along the Seres brook, in the mountaineering village Lungiarü, is also known as the Mills because of the many hydroelectric mills along its banks . Between the orographic left hamlet Seres and the orographic right hamlet Miscì are eight mills , two of which are equipped with two water wheels

At the foot of the rocky walls of the "Grup dl Sela" or Sella Group, the most imposing massif of the Dolomites, you can admire the suggestive “cascades de Pisciadú”. The waterfalls, which can be reached from Colfosco with an easy walk through a large clearing, are particularly impressive in spring, when thanks to the thaw they are rich in water.

 

Mount Conturines, located in the Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park in the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage, is the highest mountain in the Fanes group of which it is also one of the most representative.

The hike to Mt. Conturines, in the Fanes-Senes-Braies nature park, starts in San Cassiano / Capanna Alpina. The ascent to the cave is challenging, the hike is therefore recommended for well trained mountaineers only.

On trail no.11 climb up o the Col de Locia towards Fanes until you reach the Gran Plan (great plain in Ladin language). Continue to the left on a slope of mountain pines and climb on steep screes to the foot of Mt. Conturines at 2800 m, where you will find the entrance of a bear cave.

The discovery of the Conturines cave at the end of the 80s (in 1987) was a big sensation: In the cave there were found fossil remains of a cave bear. Studies of the bones have subsequently revealed that the fossilized skull, teeth, and bones found in the cave do not originate, as initially suspected, from a cave bear of recent times, but rather do belong to a cave bear of the Middle Ice Age. The Conturines bear was named Ursus ladinicus, in honor of the Ladin valley where it was found.

The access to the cave is allowed only on the occasion of guided hikes organized by the Alta Badia Tourism Cooperative. The fossil remains are exposed in the Museum Ladin Ursus ladinicus in San Cassiano.

St. Johannes' Parish Church in Lasa was erected around 1200 on the site of a previous church from the Carolingian period, as evidenced by a marble fragment dating from these times. The chaotic events surrounding the brutal Swabian War saw the Romanesque church burned down in 1499, although it witnessed a Gothic rebuild a few short years later. St. Johannes Parish Church has been damaged by fire on several occasions throughout its history, with the foundation walls and workpieces of the Romanesque apse only being rediscovered in the 1970s. These were then reconstructed true to the original style.

The East wall comprises three large blind arches that resemble the profile of a Romanesque basilica. Masterful animal sculptures can be viewed all around the apse, including depictions of a lion and a ram. The altar itself is furnished with a relief that dates from the Early Middle Ages and features St. Sisinnius, St. Alexander and St. Martyrius.

Worship Sat 7.30 pm, Sun 10 am (Winter Sat 6 pm, Sun 10 am)

 

Come and see this 400 year-old mountain maple just next to the Tomanegger restaurant on the road between San Genesio and Valas. Relax under its calming branches, while having a spectacular view on the Dolomites just in front of you! 

Here some informations about the Tomanegger mable:

Trunk circumference: 1,7 metres, 3,0 metres, 1,8 metres Height: 18 metres

Leafage diameter: 18,5 metres

Age: about 400 years 

 

To be able to irrigate the dry valley of the Sun-mountain then, one led the water in larch-wood-gutters on high wall-pier over house roofs and over the river Etsch away on the opposite valley-side.

The small highland area La Crusc/Santa Croce, located at the foot of the magnificent Santa Croce mountain, has always had a special place in the heart of the people from Val Badia.

A story that started many hundreds of years ago
Many centuries ago, when Alta Badia was still largely uninhabited, La Crusc (Holy Cross) seems to have been a pagan place of worship. It was probably the unfavourable living conditions of the area that led the first Christians to construct a sanctuary here.

Around 1010 the monks built a chapel at La Crusc where a small church was erected in the 15th century. At the end of the 17th century the church was deconsecrated by the then Austrian Emperor and was subsequently left to decay. Pilgrims and valley dwellers rescued the little church by partially rebuilding it, and some years later in the middle of the 18th century it was enlarged and embellished with a bell tower.

For a long time the existence of La Crusc as a place of pilgrimage had been established on the basis of documents from the year 1511. And then two further parchment documents emerged with evidence pointing to an earlier existence. The first mentioned a church consecration; the second contained the story of “Morellus de Caninis” who made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1500 in order to seek favours for the La Crusc church.

Numerous relics are preserved in the altar of the church, such as those of St Leonhard (to whom the parish church of San Leonardo/Badia is dedicated), St Hippolitus, St Virgilius (Bishop of Salzburg), St Mary Magdalena, St Agnes and St Barbara.

Nowadays there are several processions to the church during the summer season, and there is an important service on the first Sunday in June.

The legends surrounding the church

The building of the church
Many, many centuries ago, the inhabitants of Badia had planned to build a chapel on the “Col d’Anvi”. During the construction work however the workers kept injuring themselves on the wooden shavings. White birds collected the blood-spattered shavings and took them to the foot of the La Crusc/Santa Croce mountain. After a while the workers began to notice this and they followed the birds in order to find out where they were flying to with the shavings. Once they had arrived at the wonderful spot at the foot of the mighty Sas dla Crusc/Santa Croce, they were so impressed that they decided to build the church there.

The legend surrounding Ottwin, Count of Lurn
People in Badia like to relate how there used to be a hermit who lived at the foot of the Sas dla Crusc/Santa Croce. This hermit was no less a person than Ottwin, Count of Lurn and Pustrissa, or possibly his son Volkold, the founder of the Sonnenburg Monastery at the entrance of the Val Badia Valley. The legend tells how Ottwin had fallen into heresy during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Upon his return to his homeland in South Tyrol, he was unable to overcome the feelings of guilt over his lapse. He therefore decided to live as a hermit in a log hut under the crags of the Kreuzkofel and devote his life to prayer and penance.

The mountain lake of Corzes/Kortsch is located in the traditional Schlandrauntal Valley, after the Schlanderser and Kortscher Alm alpine pastures. The Ötzisteig leads directly past the lake into the Schnalstal valley.

Various alleys and through roads link via Portici with the backstreets and parallel roads, Dr. Streiter and Argentieri. Take one of these, vicolo della Pesa, and you can reach piazza del Grano, where the farmers' market was once held. It is one of the oldest places in Bolzano, once hosting the castle of the Prince-Bishops of Trento (destroyed in 1277 by Mainardo II di Tyrolo) and the church of Sant'Andrea (destroyed in 1785). One of the most picturesque buildings of the city is situated to the north of this square: la casa della Pesa (1634), public weigh-house until 1780.

The Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809 was a rebellion of peasants in the County of Tyrol led by Andreas Hofer against the occupation of their homeland by the French and Bavarian troops within the context of the War of the Fifth Coalition against Napoleon I.

For safety reasons the access to the snow cave is currently prohibited. It is possible to do the excursion without visiting the snow cave.

The snow cave at the foot of the Sas dla Crusc/Sasso Croce massif - le ander dla nëi in Ladin language - is a natural cave which is formed by the snowmelt in the spring months and sometimes remains intact until the following winter. However, if only small amounts of snow fall in the winter, the cave will not form. During particularly cold and snowy winters, accumulations of snow remain in shaded areas and compact into large ice masses. Accumulations of scree and mud insulate the surface. The melt water flows down the mountain and underneath the ice masses and even though the temperature of the water is only just above freezing point, as it runs though, it carves out a small cave underneath the layers of ice.

The cave continues to grow in size during Summer: the narrow hollow carved out by the stream is filled with cold air which is denser and therefore heavier than the summer air outside. This in turn sets off an inverted chimney effect: the heavy cold air sinks down to the bottom of the cave, giving rise to a strong draught from the top to the bottom of the snow cave. Warm summer air is now drawn into the cave from the upper openings, causing the cave to melt from within. In the meantime, the warm is cooled by the ice and thus flows out through the lower opening as heavy air. This effect can continue for months, melting an ever larger cavity in the ice.

About the excursion: From Badia ascend with the La Crusc 1 and the La Crusc 2 cable car to the La Crusc sanctuary (2045 m). From here, take the trail no. 15B direction La Val. Continuing on the same path, after 200 m, turn to the left to the "Snow cave". The path, with some ups and downs, passes through a wood of mugo pines with a breathtaking view over the Armentara meadows and leads to a glade where, on the right, you arrive to the "Snow cave" (40 min.). 

To the Valdaun creek to the gorge "Gurgl". The creek has here broken through the rock and a waterfall rushes down about 20-25 m. The hike in the shady Stelvio National Park is especially recommended on hot summe days.

Along the slope from the Lagazuoi to the Capanna Alpina You drive past a very particular natural phenomenon.
In winter, when everything freezes, wonderful ice-waterfalls arise on this mountain. They are particular, because in summer water flows rarely at this point.
The waterfalls are very interesting for climbers.

At the eastern entrance of Silandro one sees the white blocks, which are worked in the marble work of the company Covelano Marmi.

In the Schlandersburg castle with the Menhir exhibition and in the entire municipality of Silandro, one sees traces of the marble, e.g. at the town hall and at the main square in Silandro and at the ornate fountain in front of St. John's Church in Corzes - as well as in the marble studio at Art & crafts (Covelano marblework).

Covelano marble is used all over the world, for example in luxury bathrooms and kitchens in the One57 - New Yorker skyscraper of superlatives and also the tombstone of Udo Jürgens, the white stone of the grand piano comes from South Tyrol.

The world of marble can be discovered during guided tours and hikes.

This is one of the most suggestive places in town, thanks to its long and curved shape and colourful fruit and vegetable market. Neptune's Fountain is waiting for you, a masterpiece signed by Joachim Reis, based on the model of Georg Mayr from Völs (1745). On the opposite corner a plaque reminds visitors of the existence of the "Zur Sonne" Hotel where, among others, even Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Emperor Joseph II and the German literate and philospher Johann Gottfried Herder stayed.

The old Lasa Stinkabrunn Sulphur Spring was officially opened on 4th September 2011, after extensive renovations. The water is bacterially clean and rich in mineral content and is therefore well-suited to those with digestive, liver and skin-related ailments.

Erected in the 12th century, St. Mark’s Church – known colloquially as “St. Marx” – is located close to the parish church of Lasa and is considered one of the most beautiful Romanesque structures in South Tyrol despite lacking a bell tower.

The walls of this desecrated church consist of large stones hewn into even layers. St. Marx catches the eye on account of its exceptional height for the time at which it was built and its division into two storeys. The crypt was used for a number of centuries as a depot for storing bones, while fragments of frescoes have been revealed around the apse in the interior.

In the course of the Josephine church reform, St. Marx was desecrated and ultimately used for entirely different purposes. Following an extended period in which the church housed a workshop for the renowned Lasa stonemasonry school, the upper storey subsequently served as a rehearsal venue for the local brass band.

The church underwent a thorough restoration in 2000, which led to the discovery of long-forgotten fragments of valuable Gothic frescoes from around the year 1400.

Opening times:
closed, to be visit from the outside

Guided tours:
no guided tours

Kaschlin - A special place near the mountain village Stelvio in Venosta Valley at over 1.400 m.

Views of the big mountains of the Ortles area in the Stelvio National Parc and the old village of Stelvio.

The Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park, Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage since 2009, measures approx. 25,680 hectares and spreads across the municipalities of Badia and La Val in Alta Badia, Braies, Dobbiaco, Marebbe and Valdaora. The Dolomite high route no. 1 leads through the area of the Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park.

The mountains facing Val Pusteria valley form the park's northern, Val Badia valley its western boundary; in the south the Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park stretches all the way to South Tyrol's provincial border in the direction of Cortina and the Val di Landro valley marks its eastern boundary against the Dolomiti di Sesto. The steep, almost insurmountable rock faces protect a morphologically and scenically highly diverse, broad area of alpine pastures high plateaus.

The majority of Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park's area is covered by mountain pastures and meadows which are characterised by a unique variety of plant life. Leopard's bane, gentian, orchids, bistort and golden hawksbeard are commonly found. The vegetation zones range from mountain forests near the valleys to above 3,000 metres (9,842 ft). Fanes-Senes-Braies natura preserve's fauna is representative for the Dolomites.

The natural park's part in the Alta Badia area offers some particularly interesting zones:

• the Armentara-meadows, a small but highly diverse area with an impressive variety of species:
• the Counturines cave: Up to today, the cave located at 2,800 m (9,186 ft) above sea level, is the highest bear cave in the world. In 1987, a bear's fossilised bones, skull and teeth were found in this cave. Scientists discovered, that the remains belonged to a bear that had lived in the Austrian Alps around 50,000 years ago, called the Ladin bear (Ursus ladinicus);
• the Fanes high alpine pasture with its lithic amphitheatre known as the "Marmots' Parliament" is the setting of one of the prettiest of Ladin legends, the fairy tale "The Empire of the Fanes".

Contrary to Puez-Odle natural park, Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park explodes in colours, waters and life. In order to fully experience and understand its unique world and landscape, one must not just look at Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park from its boundaries.
One must hike in it, experience and get into contact with the area.

It is also called "the shining face of the Dolomites" because of the rich variety of its vegetation and landscapes, with steep cliffs rising at the edge of the Park and protecting a large area of pastures and colorful plateaus.

A hike through the Nature Park will take you to the mysterious places of the legend of the Kingdom of Fanes. The saga, which is considered the Ladin national epic poem, tells of the expansion of the mythical Fanes empire and its fall, of the princesses Moltina and Dolasilla, of the evil wizard Spina de Mul and of the fearless hero Ey de Net.

The idyllic mountain lake, situated at 2252 metres above sea level, lies in a deep natural basin surrounded by the rugged cliffs of the Sella Group. The lake can be reached from the top station of the Boé cable car in just 20 minutes on an easy footpath. Those who want to walk a little longer can reach the Franz Kostner hut on the Vallon from Lake Boé on path no. 638.

If you let your gaze wander over the barren slopes of the Sonnenberg mountain range in the Vinschgau valley in summertime, the white-chalk St. Ägidius' church above Silandro/Schlanders will stand out. Embedded in the stone terraces of the Corzes/Kortsch steppe belt, the small Romanesque church resembles a Mediterranean rock church.

With its octagonal spire and the oversized Christophorus fresco on the south facade , St. Ägidius is also a landmark of the valley. The massive tower with a octagon roof was not built until the 14th century, when the Romanesque church was expanded. The Christophorus fresco, on the other hand, dates from around 1330. Inside there are also wall paintings from the 13th and 15th centuries, when the church above the Kortscher Leiten meadows was much used.

As a result of the strategically favourable environs featuring a view over the valley, people settled here in ancient times. Specifically, the remains of a prehistoric settlement, known locally as the “Schatzknott," were uncovered nearby.

The Egger waterfall near the rest station Egerhöfe in Antholz Mittertal is now accessible. A unique opportunity to experience a waterfall closely. The hike takes a total of about 45 minutes (up and down).

With the prestigious Campofranco building, Menz and Pock, which already housed the elite Hotel and now the "Zur Kaiserkron'" Restaurant. Below the "Fink" Restaurant lies the City jail and the guard's residence.

In San Genesio at 1,435 m asl, located on the „Malgorer“ Salto, there ist the most ancient larch tree of the Salto high plateau.

Its age cannot be exactly determined.

This ancient larch tree is an an aesthetic feature in the middle of the wide larch groves on the Salto.

The lowest strongest branches form a candelabra shape. The tree crown could develop freely upward due to the lack of competition.

The once splendid tree has suffered damage due to the snow pressure in the winter of 2008/2009, numerous branches were pressed down and broken.

Height of the tree: 24m

Diameter: 2,03m

Circumference: 6,40m

Locality: Montoppio

Sea level: 1435 m

Two churches overlook the Piazza Cappuccini.
One is the Church Cappuccini and the other the Church of Santo Spirito.

The historic archades are the heart of the medieval Commercial centre, a title that it has conserved up to the present day, thanks to the unbroken chain of Shops which Stretch out before you, some traditional and typical and others more modern and elegant. The facades are a bright presentation of different architectural styles: the bay windows, the stucco decorations. The old Town Hall has some beautiful archways, which are expecially nice, which now houses the Headquarters of the Local History Archive, built with a ponted arch with some nice fresco decorations. The alleys which connect to the parallel streets are also interesting. Of special mention are those of the old Town Hall, now home to the Town Records Office, with pointed arches and pleasant decorative fresco effect. also of note are the alley which connect to the parallel streets that maintain the architectural style of the buildings around and abound in various activities (shops, warehouses, cellars, courtyards, workshops).