A trip to Pieve Tesino, between history and stories

The best way to start this journey to discover Pieve Tesino is with a relaxing walk in the Tesino Arboretum, which allows you to align your pace with the slow pace of life in the village.

This journey of about an hour begins from the visitor centre, where the car park is located; it winds its way through groves, flower meadows and peat bogs, walkways and guided routes equipped with information boards: an ideal itinerary for both botany enthusiasts and for those who want to immerse themselves in nature.

Don’t forget to make a stop at the Garden of Europe, an Alpine garden that celebrates Alcide De Gasperi’s idea of Europe through symbolic references, such as the amphitheater shape, reminiscent of a Parliament.

After this walk, you are ready to discover Pieve Tesino! You start from Piazza Maggiore, the fulcrum around which the buildings and manor houses of the XVIII - XIX centuries gravitate, and where you can find the monumental eighteenth-century octagonal fountain, also called Dama delle fonti.

After a short break in the square, you can reach the Church of San Sebastiano, with its romantic Romanesque bell tower, where, in 1575, Giorgio Castelrotto, Captain of Primiero, was forced to take refuge because he was suspected of carrying the plague.

It’s time to discover the beating heart of Pieve Tesino, which beats at the Casa De Gasperi Museum. Inaugurated in 2006 in the birthplace of the famous statesman, the museum is a document and a testimony of the relationship between the De Gasperi’s body of work, Valsugana and Tesino.

Sounds, images, testimonies and modern sensorial and multimedia installations tell a story that escapes the boundaries of a single life, to intertwine with that of Trentino, Italy and European politics. 

From History to the stories you can discover at the “Tesino Museum of Prints and Ambulantato Per Via”, a few steps from Casa De Gasperi. It is a place that recounts the epic of the street vendors from Tesino, wanderers who, with their artistic prints, reached the most disparate corners of the world, founding shops and even turning publishers.

As you visit museums, you may feel that it is time for a snack; we recommend an aperitif at the Club House of the Tesino Golf Club (a few minutes’ walk from the museum) and maybe, while you are at it, you can test your swing.

For dinner, you can choose whether to stay in the village or travel a few kilometres. In Pieve Tesino, for example, you can try typical Trentino cuisine at Hotel Ristorante-Pizzeria Cima D’Asta, which also offers dishes with a Mediterranean flavour.

Just outside Pieve Tesino, about 2 km away, is Ristorante-Pizzeria Betty’s Hill: typical Trentino cuisine in a location with a British flavour. Otherwise, you can choose the Camping Ristorante-Pizzeria Valmalene (6 km from the town) and try their “Valmalene single dish”.

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, it’s time to breathe in the crisp mountain air as you prepare for a new walk.

Today, we recommend the excursion to the Monte Silana gunboats, a route that does not present particular technical difficulties, although it is quite challenging. However, the climb pays off, with its beautiful view of the Pradellano plain, and an invigorating walk through a beech and hornbeam forest.

Alternatively, you can take a walk to discover the waterfalls of the Sorgazza-Cengello gorge. It is a loop trail that through walkways and wooden bridges takes about three hours to complete, though does not present particular difficulties.