Category: Experience South Tyrol

Museo Passiria | S. Leonardo in Passiria

How to reach the Museo Passiria

Cattle-dealer, rebel leader, hero. The permanent exhibition cast an ironic eye over the legend of the Tyrolean popular hero Andreas Hofer. It shows how the Tyrolean rebellion of 1809 against Napoleon unfolded. It offers a glimpse into Hofer’s mind and his despair with God and the Emperor. And it shows how, despite his failure, the era following Hofer made him into a hero.

Heroes & Hofer goes beyond Andreas Hofer to show how heroes arise and how they are used – and abused.

Please check this website for detailed information on opening hours and prices.

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Contact:
MuseoPassiria
via Passiria, 72
39015  S. Leonardo in Passiria
+39 0473 659086

Schlandersburg Castle | Silandro

How to reach Schlandersburg Castle

Schlandersburg Castle was built around 1600 as the residence of the Hendl aristocrats. The castle was later enlarged thus becoming one of the most important Renaissance edifices in the entire Venosta Valley. In 1988, the castle was placed under the administration of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and today it houses a public library in addition to the Employment offices and those of the Forestry Department – and the Menhir exhibition.

In 2013, two menhirs dating to the Copper Age were recovered from pieces of marble during the conversion work for a gardening shop in Vezzano/Vetzan, near Silandro/Schlanders. Since March 2017, the menhirs have been showcased at Schlandersburg Castle as part of a comprehensive thematic exhibition. In addition to these two original pieces, eighteen abstract pictorial figures made of metal are also displayed, which represent the eighteen menhirs found in South Tyrol and Trentino in recent decades.

The two unique sculptures, with male and female attributes respectively, give us an intriguing insight into the history of the area. The male sculpture is over 3 m in height, and wears a belt from which the handle of a dagger sticks out. The female menhir wears a robe and a necklace. The original set-up of these two sculptures can no longer be recovered; most likely they formed part of a larger group of figures.

Opening hours of the exhibition:
Mon – Fri: 9am – 12am & 2pm – 6pm
Sat. 9am – 12am

Lake Crespëina | Selva Val Gardena

How to reach the Lake Crespëina

Along a hike on the Crespëina Highland towards the Crespëina Ridge and the Cir Peaks in the Val Gardena, the path proceeds past a beautiful mountain lake located at 2,374 m asl. called Lake Crespëina. Around the lake in the Puez-Odle Nature Park the mountains of the Puez Group rise, as the mentioned Cir Peaks. The lake bottom is overgrown with seaweed what gives the green colour to the water – no fish live in it.

The lake is steeped in legend: in former times the lake was called Lech de Lietres what means “Lake of the ladders”. This goes back to the legend, that in the Puez-Odle Nature Park savages were living, who hid in the mountains using corded ladders. A South Tyrolean folklorist of the 20th century, Karl Felix Wolff, tells about it in his sagas.

Dragon Lake | Selva Val Gardena

How to reach the Dragon Lake

The Lech dl Dragon is a glacial lake in the holiday village of Selva Gardena in Val Gardena. Located at an altitude of 2,680 m in the Sella Group in South Tyrol, the Dragon Lake is only a temporary water body.

One of the most mystical and undoubtedly most beautiful lakes in Val Gardena is the Lech dl Dragon. The ice reservoir is located on the Val Gardena side of the valley in the middle of the Dolomites at the foot of the Sella Group. There are numerous legends about the lake, especially as the water is not always there. The lake is fed by glacier water and disappeared completely in the 1970s. In the years 2003 to 2007 the turquoise green lake at the Sellamasiv in the Dolomites could be observed, until it disappeared almost completely again in 2009.

A dragon in Val Gardena
Since 2011, the lake seems to be forming again about 300 m further east and it indicates that this lake will become even bigger than all the others have observed so far. The disappearance and emergence of the ice lake has been on people’s minds for generations. So it is hardly surprising that numerous legends and legends entwine around the Lech dl Dragon. It is said that the sounds of the dynamic glacial lake, which can be heard in Selva and in the alpine pastures of the Gardena Pass, come from a dragon flying in the sunset of the Dolomites.

The Lech dl Dragon can be visited together with a beautiful hike. Starting at an altitude of 1923 m at the Gardena Pass car park, you can reach the lake in a four-hour hike. The best months for this hike are August and September.

Visitor Center Avimundus Silandro | Venosta Valley

How to reach The National Park Vistitor Center Avimundus

The Stelvio National Park is the second largest protected area in the Alpine crescent. Glaciers and rocky regions dominate the park. 40% of its area is located in South Tyrol, the entire Ortles-Cevedale group with the highest peaks in the country lies within its borders. The biggest part of it, again, is in Venosta Valley. So it is no wonder that the headquarters of the National Park Service as well as four of the five South Tyrolean National Park visitor centers (naturatrafoi in Trafoi, aquaprad in Prato/Prad, culturamartell in Martello/Martell and avimundus in Silandro/Schlanders) are located in Venosta Valley.

The National Park Visitor Center avimundus
The National Park visitor centre avimundus in Silandro is entirely devoted to the bird kingdom of the Stelvio Pass. A permanent exhibition offers visitors an overview of the world of birds in the National Park, and selected bird species are clearly presented and assigned to their respective habitats. Visitors are given extensive information about the breeding and rearing, and on bird voices and their songs.

Opening hours:
May 7 – mid October
Tue – Sat: 9.30am – 12.30pm & 2.30pm – 6pm
Sun, Mon and holidays closed

Price:

Adults 1,00€
Children & Seniors (over 65) free entry

 

Contact:
Visitor Center Avimundus
Via Cappuccini 2
39028 Silandro
+39 0473 730156

Velturno castle | Velturno

How to reach the Velturno castle

Velturno Castle is a historical monument of a special kind. It was built around 1580 as a summer residence for the prince bishop of Brixen, Johann Thomas von Spaur. What is unusual is not so much the design as the furnishings. The ten rooms are decorated with original wall panelling and murals, which show Velthurns as one of the best preserved Renaissance residences in the Alps.
Once an aviary was attached to the castle, which also served as a deer garden. In 1978 it passed into the possession of the Province of South Tyrol and was renovated in 1979.

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday fro 1 pm to 5 pm
Saturday to Sunday from 10 am to 12 am
Closed on the 1st of November

Guidet tours:
Guided tours from 15th March to 15th November at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m., in July and August tours are also given at 4.30 p.m.
Visits for groups also available at other times.
Closed on Mondays.

Entry fee:

Adults 5,00 €
family ticket (parents and children up to 1 years) 10,00 €
1 parent and children up to 14 years 5,00€
children up to 6 years  free entry
students up to 18 years 3,00€
Groups of 15 people 3,50€
senior citizens aged 65 3,50€

Contact:
Schloss Velthurns
Dorf 1
39040 Feldthurns
+39 0472-855525

Painter’s House | San Martino in Passiria

How to reach the Painter’s House

The sculptors and painters of the famous “Passeirer Malerschule” (Passiria Art College, 1719 – 1845), a school of arts for baroque frescoes and façade painting, created their works all over Tyrol. Also in San Martino in Passiria some of them can be found, among them the monumental high altar of Anton Ferner in the parish church, the Renaissance altar from 1635 in the cemetery chapel, the frescoes at the façade of the “Turmhaus” in the village centre (around 1760/70), which are attributed to Joseph Haller, or the frescoes of the “Hohes Haus”, a picture of the Grim Reaper (1794).

The idea for this school of arts came from Michael Winnebacher, a patron of art. He offered his family home, the “Mairhof am Anger” in San Martino in Passiria, to the North Tyrolean sculptor Anton Ferner and to the Merano painter Nikolaus Auer d.Ä. From then on an educational institution for future artists was established there. Famous artists like Joseph Haller, one of the most recognised rococo painters of Tyrol, or the sculptor Anton Ferner came from this school. A student of Anton Ferner was Johann Perger (1729 – 1774), he is regarded as the most important sculptor of South Tyrol between late baroque and classicism.

The building in which the famous Passiria Art College was accommodated from 1719 to 1845 is located above the village of San Martino in Passiria and is known as “Painters’ House” (”Malerhaus” in German). Except of the decorated façade with paintings illustrating Saint Martin, Saint George and Mother of God, there are no other indications reminding on the original purpose. After the death of Benedikt Auer, one of the most well known fresco painters of the valley, in 1845, the school has definitely been closed. Today the “Painter’s House” is a listed building, the frescos can be admired on the exterior walls of the building. A walk leads along the village road in San Martino in Passiria via the Malerweg road to the “Malerhaus”. The mentioned “Turmhaus” and “Hohe Haus” can be admired in the village centre.

Gufidaun Village Museum | Chiusa

How to reach the Gufidaun Village Museum

The Gufidaun Village Museum is a folkloristic, local museum that has set itself the goal of collecting objects from the everyday culture of the village of Gufidaun in pre-industrial times, preserving them for posterity and making them accessible to the public.

With its multi-layered inventory, it offers a comprehensive insight into village life before the advent of the technical age. The focus of the collection is on folksy work and economic equipment from agriculture, home economics and handicrafts.

Visitors can expect a rustic soot kitchen, a cosy bedroom, a living room with Josef Telfner’s artist’s corner, a mineral room as well as a shoemaker’s room and a “Torgglkeller”. You can also visit a completely furnished school room from the 20th century, a customs epitaph and votive tablets from 1750.

The museum is constantly enriched with new objects worth seeing, especially in the attic.

Please check this website for detailed information on opening hours and prices.

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Contact:
Gufidaun Village Museum
39043 Chiusa
+39 0472 847399

Archeoparc | Feldthurns

How to reach the Archeoparc Feldthurns

The sun terrace of Velturno has been visited and populated for more than 7000 years. As the excavation of the Tanzgasse showed, the area was of particular significance during the late Copper Age, around the 3rd Millennium BC: the megalithic structure, which formed the central part of this place of worship with its grave mounds, stretches across the
visible area of the Archeoparc. The standing stones that were found within this place of worship offer the chance to place the rest of the megalithic findings within the South Tyrol into a monumental context and to interpret their historical significance. The results of the analyses of the often small plant and animal remnants, but also of non-organic matter,
open up insights into everyday prehistoric life.

Archaeological exhibition of finds from Feldthurns and the Eisacktal on the ground floor of the Castle Velthurns . Open before and after the guided tours of the castle Velthurns from 1st March to 30 th November from Tuesday to Sunday. Closed on Mondays .

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Sunday fromn 9 am to 6 pm
Monday closed

Guided tours:
Every Tuesday at 5 pm
From June to September also on every first Saturday of the month

Note: Only on request! 

Entry fees:

Adults and Children 3,00 €
Groups from 15 persons 2,00 €

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Contact:
Archeoparc
Simon Rieder-Platz 2
Feldthurns
+39 0472 855290