Trentino Alto Adige

Tourism in Tredino Alto Adige

Tourism is one of the main resources of the region which welcomes every year millions of people as a whole.

In winter, hundreds of beautiful ski resorts attract skiers from around the world, while in summer the region is a popular tourist attraction here seeking peace and quiet, good food and of course breathtaking scenery.

Many of Italy's most popular ski resorts are located in South Tyrol: Alta Badia, Canazei, Corvara, Madonna di Campiglio, La Villa, Val Gardena, San Martino di Castrozza and many many places, annually attracting millions of skiers.

The beauty of the landscapes is also a reason to visit this region in summer to enjoy hiking and trekking.

On Ortler-Cevedale mountain is a portion of the Stelvio National Park, a destination for many fans who wish to experience the richness of the fauna of the park, surrounded by firs, larches and pines.

Another tourist destination is the Adamello-Brenta Nature Park with its many lakes, of which the most important and distinctive is Lake Tovel for its blood staining related to the presence of a microorganism.

Trento

Although far from the beaten track of mass tourism, Trento offers rather interesting monuments. Its architecture is unique, with influences of Italian and German Renaissance. The city center is small, and most late-medieval and Renaissance buildings have been restored with their original pastel colors and wooden balconies.

Part of the medieval city walls are still visible in Piazza Fiera, with a round tower. Once, these walls encircled the city and were connected to the Castle of Buonconsiglio.

In Trent there are also examples of modern architecture worthy of note as the train station and the post office, both by rationalist architect Angiolo Mazzoni. In particular, the railway station (1934-36) is considered a landmark for Italian railway architecture and combines many varieties of local stone with the most advanced building materials of the time: glass, concrete and metal. The post office was once decorated with colored windows by Fortunato Depero, now no more visible as they were destroyed during the bombardments of World War II.

Major monumests of the city are:

• San Vigilio Cathedral, the dome of the twelfth and thirteenth century built in Romanesque-Gothic style over a late-Roman basilica (still visible in an underground crypt.)
• Piazza Duomo, on the side of the cathedral, with buildings frescoed of late Renaissance and Baroque periods and the Fountain of Neptune, built in 1767-1768.
• The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (1520), site of the preparatory congregations of the Third Council of Trent (April 1562 - December 1563). It was built for Bishop Bernard Clesio by the architect Antonio Medal in Gothic-Renaissance style. The facade has a large portal of the sixteenth century, while inside there are works Giambettino Cignaroli and Moroni.
• Buonconsiglio Castle, which includes a museum and the Eagle Tower, with Gothic frescoes depicting the months, commissioned by the prince-bishop Georg von Lichtenstein.
• The Church of St. Peter with a twelfth-century neo-Gothic facade, added in 1848-1850.
• The Church of St. Apollinaris, built in XIII century
• La Torre Verde, along the old bed of the river Adige, which is said to be where the people executed in the name of the prince-bishop were thrown into river.
• The Palace Delle Albere, a Renaissance villa near the river Adige built around 1550 by Madruzzo family and now houses a museum of modern art.
• The Praetorian Palace, near the Duomo, of the twelfth century, with the thirteenth century Civic Tower, principal residence of the bishops until the middle of the thirteenth century, today house for a collection of baroque paintings of religious subjects.
• Palazzo Salvadori (1515). T
• he Palace Jeremiah (late fifteenth century).
• The Palace Lodron, built during the Council of Trent with inside a great cycle of frescoes.
• Various underground remains of Roman roads and villas of ancient Trent in Via Prepositura and Piazza Cesare Battisti.

Bolzano

Bolzano is located in a valley full of vineyards, where, for the mild climate, grow palm trees, agaves, cypresses and olive trees. Background to the city, in contrast to the typical Mediterranean vegetation of the valley, tower peaks, often snow-capped, of Dolomites Rosengarten, that every sunset, blushing, offer spectacular views.

Bolzano offers several attractions for thousands of tourists. Just think of the famous mummy Ötzi (Iceman) located in the archaeological museum.

Passeggiando sotto i portici si percepisce il fascino della "piccola grande città". Numerosi sono i monumenti gotici che ancora oggi caratterizzano il centro cittadino:

• the Duomo, featuring the characteristic polychrome gabled roof, whose bell ends in a sandstone spire pierced of the sixteenth century. To be seen are the romantic door with porch, the canopy (XIV century), a fresco of the Madonna and Child (1475) on the facade, the fresco of the Crucifixion and the "door of the wine", both of 1300. Inside are important the late Gothic pulpit, the monumental altar in polychrome marble (1710-20), the fourteenth-century crucifix, the baroque chapel of Grace with frescoes by Karl Henrici (1771).
• The Dominican Church, partially rebuilt after the bombing of last war. Inside, the Chapel of St. John presents frescoes by Giotto school (early fourteenth century), while the cloister adjoining the church is decorated with frescoes by Friedrich Pacher (1496).
• Piazza delle Erbe, with a characteristc busy vegetable market
• Neptune's Fountain (1745), at the corner of Via Portici, often called Gabelwirt (landlord with a fork)
• Former Albergo del Sole, which housed Goethe, Herder and the Emperor Joseph II.
• The Franciscan Church, built in Gothic style, which houses a precious wooden altar with doors carved by Hans Klocker (XVI century). Charming is the fourteenth century cloister with frescoes by Giotto school.
• Via dei Bottai, the most typical of the old town for the old wrought iron signs, inns, craft shops.
• The Museum of Nature of South Tyrol, housed in the former administrative offices of Maximilian I.
• Via dei Portici, the most famous and popular city. The arcades flank of XV-XVIII with characteristic door, most notably the Mercantile Building, the old pharmacy "La Madonna", considered a small museum of oils, essences, tinctures, ointments, teas and the emporium of Artisans Cooperative of South Tyrolean.
• Piazza del Grano, where took place the grain market, with the picturesque Casa della Pesa (XVII century).
• The eighteenth century buildings that are located on Street and Square Show: Campfranco Palace, Palace Menz, Pock Palace.
• The Benedictine Abbey of Gries, whose oldest core (Castle of the Counts of Tyrol) dates from the twelfth century
• The Abbey Church of St. Augustine (1769-71) with seven altarpieces executed by the renowned Tyrolean painter Martin Knoller
• The Old Parish Church of Gries, which holds two important artistic treasures: the altar by Michael Pacher (1471-75) anda Romanesque wooden crucifix of 1200.
• Just outside the city center are Mareccio Castle (XIII century), the Convent of the Teutonic Order (XVI-XIX century), the Church of St. George (XV century) and the small Church of St. John Villa, built in the twelfth century but rebuilt in the next, with precious frescoes.