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TRENTINO

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Read also : Guide to the Trentino Castles

TRENTINO

A land of 6,200 square kilometres among the mountains in the heart of the Alps, for centuries the crossroads and link between northern Europe and the Mediterranean area. A land that has always been a place of encounter, exchange and comparison in which self government is not only an advanced political administrative structure, but a deep rooted and heartfelt social condition.
A land in which mother nature has profusely lavished hergifts. Fascinating environments, in many places still perfectly intact, that man must learn to protect with a sense of responsibility for us all and future generations. In spite of the typically mountain and therefore rugged conformation, the area is well connected by a good road and rail network.The main routes by which you can reach Trentino are the Brenner railway, state road and motorway running from north to south down the wide Valle dell'Adige. The alpine passes join the area to tbe borderland regions of Lombardy and Veneto by the Tonale and Mendola state roads (for tbe Sole and Non Valleys) and the Dolomites (for the Fiemme and Fassa Valleys).
Trento, the capital, is 90 kilometres from Catullo international airport in Verona, 195 from Marco Polo airport in Venice and 245 from Linate airport in Milan. Buses and the Trento-Male and Valsugana railways serve the smallest valley centres, so it is easy to reach and holiday in Trentino and forget the car!

Sovereign nature

At any hour, on any day, in any season, nature with its marvels is the sovereign of Trentino. A land of mountains in the heart of the Alps, it features an incredible variety of environments, colours, climates and situations from an altitude of 96 metres on the shores of Lake Garda to over 3 thousand metres on the perennial glaciers. A heritage of inestimable value, a green casket from which precious gems of knowledge and life can be drawn. A heritage that Trentino, thanks also to its independence, defends with pride and decision. Seventeen per cent of the land is designated as a conservation area (park, reserve or biotope) and strict laws control man and the environment seeking to balance their relationship.Valleys, forests and meadows are the undisputed kingdom of a very rich fauna. According to a recent census, 23 thousand roe deer, 12 thousand chamois, a hundred or so rock-goats, 2 thousand 300 red deer, 9 thousand marmots and at least 38 pairs of eagles live in Trentino. And the brown bear, the animal symbol that must be protected from extinction? The last plantigrades of the Alps, perhaps ten altogether, live in the offshoots of the Brenta Group lovingly observed by researchers .
In Trentino, perhaps the most widely known mountains in the world, the Dolomites, turn fiery red at sunset under the reflection of the sunlight on the horizon. Many other peaks are mirrored in the 297 lakes and crown the 177 glaciers that have ensured an abundant supply of water, the great wealth of this land, for thousands of years. The first step in getting to know the environment is to approach it with respect. In Trentino there are thousands of opportunites and moments for always new and exciting itineraries through the world of nature.

A bridge in the heart of Europe

Owing to its geographic osition between Italy, the editerranean and Europe, Trentino has always been a transit land and, at the same time, a meeting point of comparison and exchange between populations. Since prehistoric times people have travelled through the Valle dell'Adige, the natural vertical axis, migrating from north to south or vice versa. The Romans were the first to become aware of the strategic importance of this area and they made Trentino a province of their immense empire. Since then, until now, it would be wrong to talk of an unequivocal history for the whole land. In fact, although the particular orographic configuration offers, on the one hand, easy routes through wide natural openings (Valle dell'Adige and Garda), on the other it guarantees the natural defence of the inner valleys of Trentino, difficult to reach, where the inhabitants have easily kept migrating populations and their political and cultural systems at bay. The artistic production has also been profoundly influenced by the geographic position of the region and, in the main valleys, it represents a significant synthesis of the Nordic and Latin cultures. History and art experienced moments of real European influence in the Renaissance period when the town of Trento, renovated by the enlightened Prince Bishop Bernardo Clesio, hosted the Council of Trent that started the Counter Reformation.
Evidence of that time can still be seen in the towns, villages and valleys. Remains and relics are displayed in the twenty or so museums scattered throughout the region and dedicated to art, history, natural history and ethnography. The deep-rooted tradition of arts and crafts, still alive in Trentino, has gathered and perpetuated ancient messages of life also through the wood, metal and stone work of this land.

Evidence of time, gifts of nature

Catles and lakes are evidence of the history and gifts of nature in Trentino. In recent years a new and more modern significance has been given to the "art of tourism" ased on man and his values, also during holidays and leisure time. Two hundred Trentino medieval manors and ancient palaces have, in many cases, been rediscovered and turned into places of entertainment and culture for visitors and inhabitants alike. They are used to the best advantage by the great festival "If in Trentino in Summer a Castle".
Characteristic features of the historical European landscape, the castles, together with the mountains and green forests, have now become a trademark of Trentino and its history. Many can be visited, following itneraries in which, alongside the evidence of the past, you can experience the atmosphere of mystery and legend typical of any castle worthy of respect.
There are as many as 297 lakes, ten per cent of all those in the Alps, which justisfies those who call Trentino a little Finland. The lake water is safeguarded (motor navigation is prohibited) and constantly checked. Moreover, the lakes are perfectly clean when sailing and windsurf enthusiasts or swimmers wish to use them in summer.They are mostly alpine lakes situated from a thousand metres upwards, that receive water from melting and cirque glaciers. Many valley lakes offer unusual beaches, whereas the environment and Mediterranean microclimate of Garda is a story apart. Trentino invites its guests to visit the lakes which are the evidence and messengers of its environmental beauty. They give you a chance to delve into the past and offer a new kind of holiday in direct contact with nature.

Hospitality, culture and folklore

The first hospices in Trentino, built by monks in the mountains, mostly on the passes, go back to the 1200s. They were modest unpretentious structures, really refuges for wayfarers. Today they are considered to have been the first examples of buildings for accommodation. Not until the second half of the nineteenth century can we begin to speak of a tourist activity in the pioneer resorts of Madonna di Campiglio, San Martino di Castrozza and Valle di Fassa.
The time coincides with the incredible feats of mountain explorers who made the Dolomites famous throughout Europe and the whole world. In the villages of every valley the first inns were established and alpine guides began to accompany clients on the mountains. The wheels of tourism started turning slowly. A hundred years later, that is today, most of Trentino lives on tourism and the structures have grown at an astonishing rate.
Nearly 1,800 hotels provide 87 thousand beds, 188 thousand are available in other accommodation, 134 thousand in second homes and 4 thousand in 130 alpine refuges located at strategic points in the mountains. The number of beds for guests virtually equals the number of inhabitants in the province. In the last ten years, thanks to refurbishment and modernisation of the Trentino accommodation structures, the general standards of comfort have been greatly improved. This permits a highly competitive quality price relationship on the main markets.
Every Trentino valley and village expresses its history and culture in folklore. Festivities are organised every season based on popular traditions preserved over the centuries and now revived with costumes, dances and ritual events. And while tradition and folklore are handed down from one generation to another and from one valley to another, culture and art, influenced by the German, Veneto and Lombard schools, have always found fertile ground for an exchange of experience in Trentino.
A lot of attention is reserved for the places of art and culture as well as for artists and their works. There are over twenty museums and many buildings housing exhibitions and reviews, a considerable number of artistic expressions scattered throughout the area, in churches, castles and sanctuaries and countless events of folklore, concerts and festivals.

Flavours and fragances of a land

The cuisine combines traditional mid-European dishes such as dumplings, with typically Trentino recipes like "orzet" (barley soup), "strangolapreti" (small spinach dumplings) and small vegetable and bread dumplings that, according to popular belief, was the favourite dish of the prelates staying in Trento during the sixteenth century council.
And in a crescendo of flavours, mushrooms arrive on the table, venison and variously cooked meat, then cheese or sausages accompanied by steaming yellow or black polenta.
In Trentino there is a long standing tradition behind a real culture of wine. It is alive and radicated among the producers oenological specialists and cooperative wineries, all united by one and the same denominator: the choice of quality. Either in the snow or in the heat of August, wine has become the symbol and image of Trentino. The quality and variety of wines is considerable: fresh like the Riesling, Chardonnay and Muller Thurgau white wines, or sparkling like the famous spumantes. Or the reds, Marzemino, Teroldego, Pinot Nero and Merlot, full of the same warmth we find around the fire in a mountain hut when we arrive seeking hospitality and rest. Finally the desserts in which apples are very often the main ingredient. Each valley has its own speciality. The "torta de fregoloti", made with flour, butter, sugar, eggs and almonds, is excellent and particularly delicious when enjoyed with a glass of Vino Santo, called the "wine of meditation" because of its preciosity. The grapes are left for six months to dry on wooden racks. Then when they are pressed, at Eastertime, each grape produces a few drops of very sweet wine.
And to end with a flourish, the grappas, distilled and enriched in flavour and aroma with herbs like rue, asperula and gentian, or with small wild fruits like raspberries, strawberries and bilberries. Their taste and fragrance permit a journey through the seasons.

Wake up, drowsy champion

The combination of sport and tourism for an active and healthy holiday is legitimate in Trentino. The birthplace of unforgettable champions like Franco Nones or Francesco Moser, Trentino boasts 40 thousand odd members in over 700 sports clubs affiliated to national federations of all kinds of disciplines. Thanks to Trentino's independent government, modern sports structures and facilities have been created which can also be used by holidaymakers.
But it is above all the outdoor activities that attract novices to this extremely composite and always different land, so obviously suitable for healthy physical exercise.
The mountains play the leading role in these activities as memorable pages of international mountaineering history have been written among their peaks. Climbed by pioneers in the late 19th century, they are scaled today by free climbers. The mountain paths, opened on the glaciers by explorers, are now trodden by thousands of mountaineers attracted by the beauty of sunrise and sunset between earth and sky.
It is true to say that all sports can be practised in Trentino. The district has always been a sort of sports testing ground where new disciplines, widely diffused today, were often anticipated, such as parapenting, extreme or cross country skiing, glacier climbing, mountain biking, sports climbing and so on. In recent years many outdoor facilities have been created particularly for amateurs who do not constantly practise a sport and therefore need a soft approach. Many areas have been installed with equipment for physical exercise, on the shores of lakes, or in the green parks of resorts, and fitness courses have been made in the woods.
The possibility of practising sport at a high standard therefore, or simply as an extra enjoyment during your holiday and a chance to discover you are, perhaps, an authentic ... drowsy champion.

The fountain of health

Known and appreciated since Roman times, the Trentino spas have been popular as tourist health resorts since the end of the last century when news of the therapeutic, almost miraculous, properties of the arsenic-ferruginous waters flowing, rich in minerals, from the mountains spread among the pale archduchesses of the Hapsburg family. Over the last hundred years the spas have had their ups and downs, but in the nineties they were decidedly revalued after studies and scientific research confirmed the actual properties of the various types of water.
The arsenic-ferruginous waters of Levico, Vetriolo and Roncegno in Valsugana, are recommended for the cure of blood diseases, pathologies of the thyroid and nervous system and of the ear, nose and throat.
Waters rich in sulphur and carbon flow from the springs in Valle di Pejo, in the Stelvio Nature Park. These are suitable for the cure of liver and kidney diseases and the nervous system. Not far away, in Valle di Rabbi, the water is rich in salts but free of calcium sulphate and therefore recommended for people who are anaemic or run down.
Skin diseases, respiratory and articular affections are successfully cured at Comano, in the Giudicarie.
Another recently discovered thermal practice is carried out in Garniga and Sopramonte, on the slopes of Mount Bondone. Freshly cut grass is brought to the centre for fermentation and, under the supervision of a doctor, the patient is immersed in a kind of green bed. These haybaths are extremely beneficial for people suffering from arthritis and rheumatism.
Today, the Trentino spas are flanked by a health and beauty offer that is attracting increasing interest. In about fifteen hotels and small farms in Trentino, treatments and diets are carried out in an atmosphere of complete relaxation.

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