Trentino • South Tyrol

The sanctuary lies in a breathtaking location a top a 90-m-high rock and is comprised of several churches and hermits’ cells, connected to each other by a steep staircase. The oldest church was built around the year 1000 and the most recent church is from the years 1915-1918 and was built to give thanks for the peace after the war. San Romedio is without a doubt one of Europe’s most picturesque places of interest.

The Mendel funicular began operations on 19 October 1903 after 14 months of construction. It is one of the longest and steepest funiculars in Europe. The funicular goes through steep forest and rocky terrain, through several tunnels and over drawbridges from the valley station in St. Anton to the mountain station. Once arrived, one has a splendid panoramic view over the Oltradige and the lowlands. In addition, there are numerous hiking opportunities, such as to the Penegal, cima dell’arciduca Eugenio, Monte Macaion or Monte Roen mountains.

This museum is the last resting place of the Ice Man, the glacier mummy, ‘Ötzi’. This find of the millennium from the Ötztal Alps is estimated to be 5,300 years old. The exhibition rooms extend over 1,200 m 2 and four levels. On display are original artefacts from South Tyrolean history from its beginnings until the early Middle Ages, as well as holograms, videos and audio commentary. In addition to the glacier mummy, who is protected from decay in a temperature-controlled cell, the clothing and objects found with the Ice Man are also on display.

The Folklore Museum is an open-air museum on the grounds of the Mair am Hof estate in Dietenheim. Many objects in the museum come from the Valli di Tures e Aurina and document the traditional lifestyle in this valley in a visual manner. Among others, the so-called Höfila can be viewed there, a farmhouse of the Mühlwald community, which became part of the museum in 1979 in order to protect it from being torn down.

This historical path, which Albrecht Dürer took in 1494 during his first trip to Italy because the Valle d’Adige was flooded, runs from Egna to Segonzano. This landscape apparently made such an impression on him, that he created 12 masterful watercolours, whose natural ‘models’

are today marked along the way with memorial stones with the artist’s initials ‘AD’.

Llamas belong to the camel family. Over 6,000 years ago, Indians domesticated the wild species of these New World camels. Llamas are calm and mostly reserved herd animals. They have developed a ranking system, which they determine through spitting. Contrary to the general stereotype, humans only very rarely become ‘spitting victims’. In South Tyrol, many farmers now keep these sensible animals: llama trekking in the great outdoors is a unique experience for both young and old.

The Messner Mountain Museum, called MMM for short, is a project of the famous South Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner. MMM Firmian, MMM Juval, MMM Dolomites, MMM Ortles and MMM Ripa - those are the names of the five museums, which belong to the project. The extreme mountaineer wanted to create a mountain museum that was one of-a-kind. And in that he was successful! The centre is portrayed by the museum located in Sigmundskron Castle. The focus of this museum lies with the mountains in their artistic beauty and the history of mountaineering. In

MMM Juval various exhibits collected by Reinhold Messner revolving around the myths of the mountains are displayed. The worldwide largest collection of Tibetan items is located in the interior of its ancient walls high over Naturno. The MMM Dolomites, located on Monte Rite south of Cortina at around 2,181 m, is dedicated to the theme ‘the vertical world’ of the Dolomites. In the Val Venosta, in the MMM Ortles, the world revolves around the famous Ortles mountain. Visitors literally enter the mountain. Inside one can form a picture of great mountains of ice, the Arctic and

Antarctica, the power of avalanches and the effort of artists to portray ice. Right next to the museum in the ‘Yak and Yeti’ restaurant in addition to South Tyrolean cuisine, Tibetan dishes are also served. The fifth house of the museum project is the MMM Ripa: an interactive museum was founded in Brunico Castle dedicated to the topic of ‘mountain peoples’. Reinhold Messner has invited representatives from various mountain cultures to exchange their experiences here. In addition, exhibits from the everyday life of the Sherpa, Indios, Tibetans, Montolas and Burusho people are displayed

The award-winning labyrinth garden of the Kränzel winery in Cermes near Merano is truly worth a visit. The maze has a considerable

size of 3,300 m 2 , 1½-kilometres of exciting paths wind through it. The walls of the garden do not consist of the typical hedges, but

rather of grapevines. In autumn therefore the labyrinth garden offers a special treat: snacking on grapes.

The grounds are opened from the beginning of April to the beginning of November daily from 10:00 to 19:00 and additionally offer ro-

tating exhibits of modern art, as well as impulses which amaze and give food for thought.