Sights in Trentino Alto Adige
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Messner Mountain Museum
The rambling castle, Castel Firmiano, and its grounds are home to the Messner Mountain Museum created by mountaineer Reinhold Messner as the centrepiece of his five mountain museums. Based around man’s relationship with the mountains across all cultures, this insightful museum is configured so that you climb literally hundreds of stairs, giving you the experience of shifting altitudes. You’ll need to wear sturdy shoes for the uneven terrain and mesh walkways; wheelchair access is not possible.
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Castel Firmiano
A 20km-long bike path running mostly along the river connects Bolzano's castles: the 12th-century Castel Mareccio; the 1237-built Castel Roncolo, also known as Schloss Runkelstein, which is renowned for its rare 14th-century frescoes depicting scenes from secular literature such as the tale of Tristan and Isolde; and the highlight, Castel Firmiano, dating back to AD 945.
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Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige
The star of the Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige is Ötzi, the Iceman. The so-called Iceman’s clothing and equipment is on display, while his still-frozen body is kept in a separate, temperature-controlled room and can be viewed through a tiny window. Ötzi aside, the museum also has an important collection of archaeological finds.
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Centro Visitatori Spormaggiore
The brown bears measure 1.2m when on all four paws, and over 2m when standing; they weigh anywhere from 100kg to 250kg, depending on the season. They’re closely monitored by park authorities via radio collars, and some can be viewed at the enclosure outside the Centro Visitatori Spormaggiore in Spormaggiore, 15km northeast of Molveno. The centre has some excellent exhibits about the bears’ reintroduction, including some cute displays for kids. It’s hoped that in 50 to 100 years there will once again be bears all over the Alps.
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Cathedral
Trento’s centrepiece is the busy yet intimate Piazza del Duomo, dominated by its stalwart Romanesque cathedral. Once host to the Council of Trent, the dimly lit church displays fragments of medieval frescoes inside its transepts. Two colonnaded staircases flank its nave, and the foundations of an early Romanesque-Gothic church form part of an archaeological area that also has some extraordinary Roman remains dating from prior to the first church. The town’s bishops are buried in the adjacent mausoleum.
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Castel Trauttmansdorff
Exotic plants, an aviary and a rainbow of 100,000-odd tulips (in season) surround Castel Trauttmansdorff, a mid-19th-century castle where Empress Sissi stayed while taking the waters at Merano. Inside the castle, the Touriseum charts the last two centuries of Alpine tourism, from Baedeker-wielding aristocrats to woolly-hatted snowboarding junkies. A garden-set restaurant and a cafe by the waterlily pond both offer a chance to soak up the lush surrounds.
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Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Housed in the regal Palazzo delle Albere is Trento’s small Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, part of MART in Rovereto. Works displayed inside the museum include 19th- and early-20th-century impressionist and symbolist paintings by Trentino artists, the most impressive being Luigi Bonazza’s huge triptych, La leggenda di Orfeo (1905). Look out for the colourful fragmentary frescoes on the walls, too.
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Castel Tirolo
Just outside the town of Tirolo, Castel Tirolo is the new home of the Castel Tirolo Museum, which spans the history of the entire Tyrol. In the keep you’ll find exhibits interpreting the turbulent history of South Tyrol during the 20th century. Many of the displays are rotated on a regular basis. The castle can be reached by taking the chairlift from Merano to Tirolo; trains and buses also serve the village.
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Castello del Buonconsiglio
Guarded by hulking fortifications, Castello del Buonconsiglio was home to Trento’s bishop-princes until Napoleon’s arrival in 1801. Behind the walls are the original 13th-century castle, the Castelvecchio, and the Renaissance residence Magno Palazzo, which provides an atmospheric backdrop for a varied collection of art and antiques and hosts regular temporary exhibitions.
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Andrea Soraperra
In Canazei’s village centre, take time to pop into the workshop of traditional sculptor and toymaker Andrea Soraperra, where you can watch him make the enchanting toys and evocative sculptures displayed in his attached shop. Among his creations are typical wooden character masks worn in the Carnevale Fassano that takes place in Val di Fassa in February or March each year.
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Castel Mareccio
A 20km-long bike path running mostly along the river connects Bolzano's castles: the 12th-century Castel Mareccio; the 1237-built Castel Roncolo, also known as Schloss Runkelstein, which is renowned for its rare 14th-century frescoes depicting scenes from secular literature such as the tale of Tristan and Isolde; and the highlight, Castel Firmiano, dating back to AD 945.
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Museo Diocesano
In the former bishop’s residence of Palazzo Pretorio, dating from the 11th century, illuminated manuscripts, paintings depicting the Council of Trent and liturgical vestments form part of the outstanding collection in the Museo Diocesano. Admission to the museum also includes entry to a cathedral’s archaeological zone and treasury.
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Badia di San Lorenzo
Near the main train station, the 12th-century Badia di San Lorenzo, once attached to a long-gone monastery, is worth a look for its cross-vaulting festooned with red stars and its bronze statue of Padre Pio. The abbey was badly damaged by WWII bombing and again during the 1966 floods, but has now been faithfully restored.
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Tridentum La Città Sotterranea
Subterranean Trento can be explored at the fascinating Tridentum La Città Sotterranea. The extensive remains were discovered less than two decades ago during restoration works on Piazza Battisti’s theatre, and include sections of paved streets and the city walls, a tower, a house with mosaics, and a workshop.
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Museion
Bolzano’s newest architectural masterpiece is the Museion, a funky glass cubelike building on the river that houses the museum of contemporary art. Strangely the modernist design works, both inside and out. There’s a cafe, bookshop and library onsite.
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Palazzo Vescovile
The slightly less bolshie ‘Community’ is headquartered in the wonderfully frescoed Palazzo Vescovile in Val di Fiemme’s main town of Cavalese. The building is well worth an admiring look.
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Chiesa di Francescani
The 14th-century Chiesa di Francescani features beautiful cloisters and a magnificent Gothic altarpiece, carved in 1500 by Hans Klocker, in the Cappella della Beata Vergine (Chapel of the Blessed Virgin).
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Museo Ebraico
The small but intriguing Museo Ebraico is housed in Merano’s synagogue, built in 1901, and recounts the history of Merano’s Jewish population from the early 19th century through to WWII.
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Museo di Scienze Naturali dell’Alto Adige
Alto Adige’s wondrous flora, fauna and geology can be discovered at the Museo di Scienze Naturali dell’Alto Adige. The centrepiece is its gigantic saltwater aquarium.
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Castel Roncolo
The 1237-built Castel Roncolo is renowned for its rare 14th-century frescoes depicting scenes from secular literature such as the tale of Tristan and Isolde.
reviewed
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Museo della Donna
Exhibits chronicle 200 years of female fashions at the Museo della Donna, with plenty of period costumes and accessories.
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Fontana di Nettuno
In the centre of Piazza del Duomo is the Fontana di Nettuno, a splashing 18th-century fountain dedicated to the trident-wielding Neptune.
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Casa Cazuffi-Rella
Frescoes decorate the façades of two Renaissance houses, known as the Casa Cazuffi-Rella, on the piazza's northern side.
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Chiesa dei Domenicani
The cloisters and chapel of Chiesa dei Domenicani feature 14th-century frescoes by the Giotto school.
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Centro Arte Contemporanea Cavalese
Seek solace at the Centro Arte Contemporanea Cavalese, a striking exposition of mountain art.
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