SECLUDED AND SOMEWHAT MYSTERIOUS... JUST WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED

Whatever the season, Trentino has authentic surprises, unique natural spectacles and unexpected places in store for visitors. All you need to do is get off the beaten track to discover hidden corners: little gems immersed in nature and guaranteed to surprise and enchant visitors.

The writings of the shepherds on Monte Cornon – Val di Fiemme

In the Fiemme Valley, Monte Cornòn is a limestone massif located above the villages of Tesero, Panchià, Ziano di Fiemme and Predazzo – on the orographic right of the valley. In the past, this place was intensively exploited as part of an agrosilvopastoral economy. From the valley to the mountain, flocks and herds driven by shepherds have passed along the paths for centuries. The mountain has preserved a unique and fascinating testimony of this subsistence economy, represented by thousands of inscriptions engraved on the rock that testify to the passage and pastoral activities on the site between the 15th and 20th centuries. More than 47,000 inscriptions have been identified and recorded, including initials, acronyms, dates, names, livestock counts, animal figures, greetings...A gigantic work of graffiti involving shepherds, mowers and hunters who painted the rocks with a red ochre easily available on the mountain and called "bòl". There are 8 routes in total, starting from the valley floor and reaching the main sites where the inscriptions can be seen. The "Cava dal Bol" route, for example, climbs up from Ziano di Fiemme following trail 509 in the direction of Valaverta to the Masi in Zanon. Continue to the "Cava dal Bol", a wall that bears the traces of over 600 inscriptions. The next stages lead to other walls – there are 7 in total on this route – full of pictograms and inscriptions, before returning to Zanon.

In the Orrido di Ponte Alto – Trento

The sound of the water, the mists of infinitesimal droplets that seem to hang in the air between the narrow walls, the colours and richness of the vegetation clinging to these rocks. All these things make the Orrido di Ponte Alto canyon a magical and spectacular place, even more surprising because it's just a few minutes from the centre of Trento. It is amazing to plunge into this gorge carved out over the millennia by the Fersina stream, between two waterfalls over 40 metres high and layers of red rock, accompanied by guides who explain the special environment that nature has created in this gorge and the history of the water regulation systems built here since the Middle Ages and among the oldest in the world to protect the city from sudden floods. Inaugurated in the early twentieth century, the route between the canyon walls had long been closed for safety reasons. Now visitors can once again venture out among the rocks and waterfalls safely accompanied by guides. To access the gorge, it is mandatory to book the ticket online on the website www.ecoargentario.it. It can be reached by local bus from Trento and Pergine, or by city bus to Cognola (a suburb of Trento) and then on foot for about 10 minutes. Arriving by car, you can park at the Cognola sports centre in Via Ponte Alto.

At the Giardino dei Ciuciòi – Lavis

About ten minutes' drive from Trento, the village of Lavis is home to a historical garden that could have been lifted straight from the pages of a fairy tale. This is the Giardino Bortolotti, also known as the Giardino "dei Ciuciòi", a unique hanging garden where ruins and greenery combine to form a dreamlike landscape with a romantic and decadent charm. The garden is a fine example of an eclectic monumental complex from the first half of the nineteenth century designed to bring to life a fantastical and picturesque landscape. A spiral ramp leads visitors through hanging garden terraces that house not only magnificent rare plants but also various buildings, including the facade of a neo-Gothic church, a covered passageway, a Renaissance loggia and much more, all the way to the top and the building known as the Casa del Giardiniere (Gardener's House). In the complex's heyday, a vast greenhouse, similar to the lemon houses of Lake Garda, housed spectacular rare plants: palms, lemons, magnolias, oranges and olives. After decades of neglect, the garden was returned to the public after a long restoration process. Guided tours are organised by the Ecomuseo Argentario, every Saturday and Sunday. www.ecoargentario.it

At Roccolo del Sauch – Val di Cembra

The Croccola Pass is an ancient pass surrounded by beech forests between the Adige Valley and the Cembra Valley. When, in the past, the Adige River flooded in the South Tyrolean Unterland and Piana Rotaliana, it became the only practical connection to Trento or Bolzano for those travelling along the "Via Imperiale". The German painter Albrecht Dürer also travelled through Italy for the first time in 1494 on his way to Trento and from there to Venice. A few centuries later, the "Roccolo del Sauch", a fascinating and ingenious plant labyrinth built for hunting purposes, could be observed here. To visit it, you can start from Lago Santo, which can be reached from Cembra, crossing landscapes that in autumn offer unusual and spectacular colours thanks to the variety of plants present in these woods. From the car park, walk back along a short stretch of tarmac road and then take a forest track on the right, following the signs for "Roccolo Sauch". You will reach Pozze and then the Croccola Pass: your destination is very close, and in five minutes you reach the famous "roccolo". This is a living construction of beech and fir trees that have been intertwined and pruned to create a walkable tunnel with a grassy area in the middle. Every time a large number of birds landed in the space in the middle of the gallery, the birdcatcher's whistle would sound from the shed. The horizontal flight led the birds straight towards an almost invisible net stretched between the arches of the tunnel. Since 1968, this type of hunting has been banned, but the site has become an important bird migration observatory and environmental education centre. Guided tours with local guides are possible for a fee. The hike ends at the Sauch mountain shelter, just ten minutes away.

In the Forra del Lupo (The Wolf Gorge) – Alpe Cimbra

In Serrada, on the Alpe Cimbra, you can walk among the memories of the Great War through the Forra del Lupo (the "Wolfschlucht"/"Wolf Gorge"), a rock canyon on the southern edge of the Folgaria Plateau that offers beautiful views of the upper Terragnolo valley, the Borcola Pass and the imposing Pasubio massif. It is not a gift of nature, but a human creation, abandoned and buried in vegetation for decades and then recovered a hundred years after its construction. It is, in fact, a long and complex trench built by Austro-Hungarian soldiers, an artefact among the best-preserved (and recovered) in Trentino, which is very rich in this type of testimony. Along this route, among trees and rocks, you can see the well-preserved remains of the posts, rifle pits and observatories of the numerous shelters carved into the rock, which more than a hundred years ago provided refuge to soldiers from all corners of the Empire. Tyrolean, Bohemian and Czech dialects resounded among these rocks. Once off the entrenched path, you reach Forte Dosso delle Somme, "Werk Serrada", or rather what has outlived those who built the old Hapsburg fortification to guard the southern front. Departure is from Cogola, south of the village, from the Serrada plateau, following the slightly uphill SAT trail no. 137, which soon becomes wedged between high rock walls, alternating between entrenchments and observatories connected by natural stairways. This part of the route ends in the wide grassy basin of the Caserme. Following the route of the old military road that meanders through the high-altitude pastures, climb up to Forte Dosso delle Somme. For the return journey, follow the route of the ski slope on the nearby Martinella ridge to Serrada.

In San Colombano monastery – Vallagarina

Looking at it from the road that climbs up the Leno Valley, the small church seems to almost merge with the rock to which it literally seems to cling. The hermitage of San Colombano is located in a particularly evocative place in the municipality of Trambileno, a few kilometres from Rovereto. To visit it, it is necessary to climb 102 steps carved into the rock overlooking the river Leno and some natural pools of crystal-clear water. Up here, natural cavities halfway up the rock face are said to have been used since 753 AD by monks dedicated to the hermitage who probably came from Bobbio Abbey, a monastery in Piacenza. The first church was built in a natural underpass between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century. The actual hermitage was built in 1319 and named after the Irish saint Columbanus, who lived between 543 and 615 and, according to legend, killed a dragon that lived in this cave. Also known as the Hermit's Cave, it was used until 1782 and, when the tradition of the hermitage was abolished, the inhabitants of the valley took care of it. Inside, there are frescoes depicting the battle between Saint Columbanus and the dragon and a depiction of paradise; a 15th-century Madonna and Saints can be found on the high altar. This visit can be completed by immersing yourself in the lush riverside environment of the Leno gorge, following a trail that reaches the nearby San Colombano reservoir with its waters shimmering in all shades of green along its banks.

Further info: https://www.visittrentino.info/en/articles/special-autumn/meditation-spots

Trentino media room: https://www.visittrentino.info/en/press