On the path of music, dances, and barns at Peniola
Hiking trail • Val di Fassa
On the path of music, dances, and barns at Peniola
You can still hear the sounds of the accordion played by those who reached Malga Peniola in May, on a pilgrimage to the church of San Giovanni and its festival. There was dancing until late at night…
A walk into the heart of the history of the mountain people, where the sacred celebrated the profane and vice versa, in a mixture of toil and hymn to fertility. "Penìa" is the name by which the people of Moena call the area: here the old wooden barns make a picture postcard. The Malga Peniola is one of the few remaining restaurants where you can enjoy traditional "fortaie" (fried sweets) and fragrant apple fritters. A precious place, chosen as the location for Italian director Carlo Mazzacurati's latest work, "The Chair of Happiness". Next to the restaurant, the little church of San Giovanni Nepomuceno still retains the echo of the accordions that on 16 May made the pilgrims who came here for the festival dance until late at night. The building was built between 1729 and 1732 by the Donei family as thanks to the saint, protector of water and floods, for having survived a heavy flood. The interior houses works by the priest-painter Martino Gabrielli.
