Mountains, lake, Trentino, Spa, resort, Valsugana, Levico, hotel, wellness, holiday, Italy
La Panarotta
Mount Panarotta is only 15 km away from Levico Terme. With its 18 km pistes of easy and medium difficulty, it is the ideal and peaceful destination for families with children. This year’s excellent snowfall has guaranteed a great skiing season, exceeding all expectations. Very interesting proposals are offered to beginners, thanks to the school camps and their large and gentle slopes.
Advanced skiers will have the chance to venture down the long pistes winding through fir- and larchwoods. A good number of facilities complete the Panarotta winter offer: ski school, ski and boots hire, first aid, mountain huts, activities for children, self-service restaurants cooking local dishes.
Panarotta ski school then organises, on demand, ski touring excursions proposing various itineraries, for groups of 4 maximum 8 participants: more info at 347-5044450. More outings with snowshoes every Saturday from 27th December to 6th March. Your Valsugana Ski Area pass allows you to ski on the Panarotta 2002 and on the Marande Brocon pistes. You will also have free admission to the Ice Rink in Piné.
Altopiano di Vezzena
A real paradise for the lovers of cross-country skiing: this ski area is connected to the pistes of the Altipiani di Folgaria, Lavarone and Luserna, thus you will have the opportunity of skiing on several dozens of km across wonderful landscapes, among wide pastures dotted with mountain malgas. It also is the ideal environment for ski touring and snowshoeing. History lovers will appreciate finding a large number of traces of fortresses and entrenchments dating back to the First World War. At Passo Vezzena it is possible to rent all the equipment for cross-country skiing, whereas the ski school is nearby, at the Millegrobbe Cross-Country Skiing Centre. Hotel Vezzena, a few meters off the pistes, is the ideal accommodation on the spot.
LAGORAI
Lagorai is a mountain range in the East of Trentino, a watershed between Valsugana and Valle di Fiemme. In all other more renowned places you sometimes need to queue along the mountain paths, but here instead it usually occurs that you keep walking along the mountain ridges for days and days without meeting anyone. Hundreds of km of walking paths at high altitude, most of them tracing the ancient muletracks of the First World War across woods, pastures, trenches digged down stony grounds or on mountain peaks: the many north and southern valleys are dotted by something like 100 small alpine lakes. The maximum height does not even reach 3000 mt, and the morphology of the porphyritic mountain tops only offers scarce possibilities of climbing, compared to other Dolomite areas. Nevertheless, an endless number of excursions may be carried out across this mountain range, that is nearly 100 km long and alternates mountain peaks to a dozen valleys descending along the vast north and southern mountainsides.
The name DOLOMITES indicates the region comprehended between the Val d’Isarco and the Valle del Piave. The Dolomites are usually divided in western and eastern Dolomites. The border is the axe connecting the Val Badìa Valley to the Val Cordévole. The limits are more precisely: Val Pusterìa North and North-East, Comèlico and river Piave East and South-East, stream Cordévole and Val Badìa West. The Dolomites are then divided in various indipendent mountain groups.
Catinaccio
“Dolomia” is a rock of marine origin, formed by the sediments of invertebrate organisms such as algae, molluscs and corals. The peculiar architecture of the Dolomites is actually determined by the composition of the Dolomia stone: it is a double salt made up of calcium and magnesium. Its name comes from the French geologist Déodat de Gratet Marquis de Dolomieu (1750-1801), who discovered this rock in 1789 (other sources say 1791) during his journey in South Tyrol and Valle dell'Adige. The stone was then analysed by Thèodore de Saussure, son of the renowned Genevan scientist Horace Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799), who had promoted the first ascent of Monte Bianco. Dolomieu proposed the name of Saussurite for the stone, in the scientist’s honour, but it was refused. It was later on called Dolomite instead, in memory of Dolomieu.
Le Tre Cime di Lavaredo
The ladin Dolomia (dating back to 236 - 231 million years ago) forms the great structures characterizing a large part of the western Dolomites. The main Dolomia (dating back to 223 - 215 million years ago) forms the great structures of most of the eastern Dolomites. The Dolomite valley floors are mainly very spacious and intensely covered with green areas; the mountain passes are large and nearby wild barriers rise straight from the flowery meadows. The rock horizons are serrated by a thousand twisted architectures: an endless succession of towers, spires, pinnacles, ridges and peaks…
Marmolada
The coniferous woods have always represented a great resource for the Dolomite region. Nowadays the woodland are increasing, due to the abandoning of pastures and agricultural activities, because of the strong emigration process towards the industrial poles and the subsequent transfer of labour force to handicrafts and tourism, two working fields that are far more remunerative.
I forti austriaci...
The Austrian forts...
At the beginning of 1900, the Austrian Chief of Staff, field marshall Conrad von Hoetzendorf, looked closely at the Altipiani of Folgaria and Lavarone as possible settlements for military operations against Italy. He was aware of the strategic importance these mountains had as well as of the fact that losing their possession would mean flinging doors open to the Italians’ advance towards Trento. He therefore ordered the construction, from 1907 to 1914, of a succession of fortresses which had to serve primarily as difensive posts for southern Tyrol and subsequently as bases of attack facing the plain of Veneto.
All forts were tested in order to resist the most powerful artillery shells, up to 240 and 305 mm. The defensive line included 4 permanent fortresses on the west side, i.e. Dosso del Sommo, Sommo Alto, Cherle and Belvedere, a central post, Luserna and two on the east side, Verle and Pizzo di Vezzena. The defensive system was completed by an observation post on Monte Rust, on the way between Carbonare and Lavarone-Chiesa, a spot from where they could have an overall vision of the Austrian fortresses’ array. One fort was connected to the other by a net of trenches provided with strongholds, machine-guns, mountain and field pieces of ordnance. This defensive belt was built in accordance with very well-thought logistic strategies, which made it a practically impregnable barrier to the Italian troops.
(Paolo Volpato’s photo collection)
(foto collezione Paolo Volpato)
Forte Belvedere (Werk Gschwendt)
Fort Belvedere (Werk Gschwendt)
This was the closest Fort to the Italian lines as well as the best-fortified post of the entire defensive belt. Its main aim was to interdict the Italian advance through the Val d'Astico. Located on a rock spur overhanging the valley, the fort completely controlled the valley, thanks to the connection to Forte Cherle, located on the opposite side. It was built between 1908 and 1914 and it is the only fortress that still remains in good conditions and may therefore be visited.
(Paolo Volpato’s photo collection)
(foto collezione Paolo Volpato)
Forte Verle (Forte Busa di Verle, Werk Verle)
Fort Verle (Fort Busa di Verle, Werk Verle)
Fort Verle was built between 1907 and 1913 at the foot of Pizzo di Vezzena. It is perhaps the most well-known among these fortresses, because of Fritz Weber’s narration in his book of memories. Located at an altitude of 1504 mt, in a commanding position above Passo di Vezzena, the fort and the Basson entrenchments nearby were supposed to block up the road coming from Asiago. Fort Verle was armed with 4 10cm howitzers placed inside rotating armoured domes, then 2 8cm cannons located in a casemate facing the Fort of Luserna, 4 6-cm cannons and about 15 machine-guns for close defense. Fort Verle itself though, despite answering the enemy’s fire blow after blow with its 4 howitzers, was damaged at the beginning of the hostilities by about 5000 Italian shells of medium and large caliber.
(Maurizio Pretto’s photo collection)
(foto collezione Maurizio Pretto)
Forte Pizzo di Vezzena (Spitz di Vezzena, Werk Vezzena, Spitz Verle)<br>
Fort Pizzo di Vezzena (Spitz di Vezzena, Werk Vezzena, Spitz Verle)
Fort Pizzo di Vezzena is a building made out from the rock at the top of the mountain bearing the same name, at an altitude of 1908 mt. It was nicknamed “the eye of the plateau” for two reasons: because of its armament consisting of a small rapid-fire cannon and machine-guns, as well as for the wonderful geographic location, which was perfect for its actual main role as observation and optical connection post. Nowadays from here, when the sky is clear, looking North-West you may still see very well both the Adamello glacier and the Brenta Dolomites, looking North the Lagorai chain, with Mount Panarotta before it, and looking East the peaks of Primiero and the area surrounding Feltre. Looking South, the Vezzena plain and the Altopiano di Folgaria open up the view towards the Pre-Alps before Mount Pasubio, in the area surrounding Vicenza.
Le Piramidi di Segonzano
Segonzano’s Pyramids
They are locally called "Omeni de Segonzan" (Segonzano men) and they are so high that they can already be seen from the bridge crossing stream Regnana, along the Valle di Cembra road. The pyramids are easy to reach from the path marked by the Valle di Cembra Tourist Board in cooperation with Segonzano Town Council, with the aim of treasuring this natural monument. The panoramic tour around the pyramids is shown on a notice board at the entrance to this little nature park, whereas several explanatory tables are set along the path to inform the tourists about this phenomenon’s geological aspect. The moraine deposits, where the pyramids stand, are compact, but at the same time they are easily eroded by weather precipitations that plough their structure with fissures, cracks and leaks. The detritic column survives crumbling only when it culminates in a big rock that limits water action and gives it the nice shape of a pyramid with a hat on top. One of the tables illustrates that the precarious geological structure of the area was tormented by floods and earthquakes, that caused a premature decay of some of the pinnacles. The formation time of the pyramids is quite short, from a geological point of view, and it has been estimated that their life expectancy is about a hundred years. The pyramid lasts longer when it is protected from weather precipitation by a rock on the top, but it is anyhow doomed to become a thin stele and finally unformed detritus. The alpine valley’s morphology lets us suppose that more moraine deposits will in the future undergo the same erosion process, that will consequently create some new elegant pinnacles, outcomes of the unceasing evolution of the earth surface. Visitors walk here through a succession of earth structures offering sensational views on the surroundings. They are step by step surprised by new perspectives and never have enough of such a fascinating exploration. Once arrived at the second group of pyramids, visitors realize that the fabulous stone castle that could be seen from far away actually is an aerial, frail balcony, suspended above an appalling abyss.
Suggested route: Drive along the left side of Valle di Cembra, until you reach Stedro and the bridge crossing stream Regnana. Here are the parking place and the explanatory table. The marked path leads to the centre of this erosion phenomenon and ends then at the pic-nic area. Walk from here up to the Stedro Quaras carriage road, keep on the left and follow it until you reach Stedro, then proceed down to the large road of Valle di Cembra and finally get back to the parking place. Altitudes: Bridge over stream Regnana 604 mt; Stedro Quaras road 800 mt; difference in level 200 mt. Time: take your time along this route, follow the suggested deviations and stop to take pictures at the panoramic spots. The first pyramids are reachable in half an hour time; the complete tour takes a couple of hours. Difficulty: it is dangerous to walk outside the barriers and to lean over the frail ridges or stop beneath the pyramids.
IL LAGO DI LEVICO
Lake Levico
Lake Levico, little brother of the neighbouring Lake Caldonazzo, presents an unmistakable long shape that reminds a fiord of Northern Europe. Every year it turns out to be among the cleanest Italian lakes and it represents a real treasure for the town of Levico. Its emerald waters reflect, season after season, nearly all the colours of the rainbow. But autumn is the most colourful time of the year, when the leaves of the larches, as orange as flames, start flaring along the borders of the lake, which exhales - for the living creatures’ sake - the utmost emotions that a natural environment may offer.
In summer this sheet of water becomes the uncontested element for bathers and sportsmen practising various activities (canoeing, rowing, sailing, windsurfing, Dragon Boat challenges), whereas in spring and autumn the lake turns decisively back to an activity which is considered locally as a real worship: pike, trout and perch fishing.
Lago di Tovel
LakeTovel
It is located in the Brenta mountain group. It has unfortunately lost its typically red colour that made it a worldwide unique attraction, but it still is – as Giuliana Andreotti wrote in 1984 – ‹‹an environment of persuasive and irresistible appeal, it is like powerful and solemn poetry, a mysterious and peculiar sight. In this somptuous fold of Trentino territory, when silence spreads all over, men long to reach their absolute best and walk across time breathing joyfully and unstrained». The red colour was conferred by a unicellular alga of the Peridinae species, the Glenodinium sanguineum. The proliferation of millions of individuals, favoured in summer by the mild water temperature, produced a great condensation of algae that were pushed by the summer breeze towards the south-western side of the lake, which took on a bright red colouring. Today we can only admire this phenomenon on pictures, as it has disappeared because of intrusions into the delicate hydrobiological equilibrium, often correlated to the excessive human presence along the lake. However, let’s admire the optimistic attitude of those scientists who believe in the algae reappearance, once favourable conditions are restored.Suggested route: From Tuenno (village in Valle di Non, 645 mt), drive across the valle di Tovel, pass through an interesting moraine landslide, and reach the parking place nearby the lake. The visitor’s centre by the lake has been opened in summer 1986, set up by the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali (Trentino Museum of Natural Science, Trento). Information signs and well-marked walking path – secured at spots - around the lake. An easy and comfortbale 1 hour walk with little difference of level.
LAKE TOVEL: 1178 mt of altitude.
The history of Trentino…
...... starts from the first prehistorian relics dating back to the years between 9000 and 4500 before Christ. But the history of the Trentino community actually takes a more defined shape only after Christianity rooted in its valleys. Trentino was also a province belonging to the Roman Empire, but didn’t have at that time a precise identity.
The new religion took roots between the 4th and 5th centuries, at the time of bishop Vigilio and the three martyrs from the Valle di Non. The three centuries of Goth, Longobard and Frank domination conferred on Trentino a cultural heterogeneity which was unique at that time. Trentino was transformed in Marca Tridentina in the year 774, then annexed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation with Ottone I. This passage allowed the region to acquire the necessary basis, at the beginning of year 1000, for the establishment of the institution that marked and dominated its history for more than 800 years: the Episcopal Principality.
In the years 1004 and 1027, bishops Ulric I and Ulric II mutually received from Emperors Henry II and Conrad II the Salian, the title of princes, added to their episcopal power, which allowed them to rule their territory independently from any other sort of power. The temporal power, in addition to the spiritual power, made the bishop of Trento become a figure of unique charisma and political influence.
Some of the local landowners, who bore hereditary titles of nobility, under the pretext of the "avvocazia", a temporal institution aimed at protecting the spiritual power, rose first as patrons and fairly soon as usurpers of the bishop’s authority. After a short time of singular splendour – an example is the construction of Trento Cathedral – due to bishop Federico Wanga (1207 - 1218), there succeeded a medieval period studded with some serious episodes of persecution against the bishops, committed by the tyrolean Counts Mainardi and their heirs, the Dukes of Austria, who often compelled the prelates to captivity or exile.
In 1363 the Dukes of Austria and the prince-bishop stipulated a series of agreements named "compacts", which highly deprived the bishop of most of his power, but allowed him to survive peacefully. The so-called "Little book of 1511", stipulated between Emperor Maximilian I and Bishop George Neideck, strengthened the principality, allowing some of the key-figures of Trentino Renaissance, such as Bernardo Clesio and Cristoforo Madruzzo, to prepare and conduct the greatest event of the regional history: the Council of Trento.
The Council opened in 1545 and ended in 1563, with several interruptions. It became a fundamental stage for the relationships between Catholics and Protestants as well as a political and cultural watershed in Europe. Thanks to the enforcement of the Council provisions within the Principality, a newly organized ecclesial community arose, with a very accentuated dogmatic inclination that aimed at extirpating any signs of heretical movements, witchcraft included. This developing cruel inquisitorial attitude caused a tremendous outcry, which allowed in 1700 the spreading of the Enlightenment speculations to all those episcopal principalities, such as Trento, gravitating within the spheres of influence of the Austrian family.
In the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II, Trentino faced, as all other Habsburg territories, an age rich in changes which led to the fall of the ancient european regime, after the French Revolution and the upsettings of the Napoleonic period. The ecclesial principalities - Trento included - belonging to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and the imperial dynasty itself did not survive these events.
After the short French domination in 1803 and the occupation of Trentino by the Austrian troops, the episcopal principality ceased to exist: the ecclesial authorities lost their privileges and riches, which were secularized i.e. transferred to the civil authorities. Afterwards, Trentino was put for several years under the rule of the Bavarians (Andreas Hofer’s famous rebellion, crushed with bloodshed, dates back to this age), then the Italians, then again the Austrians.
On June 9th, 1815, the final act of the Congress of Vienna sanctioned that Tyrol and the former episcopal principalities of Trento and Bressanone had to definitively return under the Habsburg rule.
In 1848 the uprising wave coming from France stirs also in Trentino a feeling of discomfort towards the Tyrolese Diet and Vienna government.
The subsequent Austro-hungarian repression deeply marked the political events of the 19th century, giving rise to a Trentino patriotic movement called Irredentism, whose most famous spokesman was Cesare Battisti, sentenced to death and executed by the Austrians in 1916.
After Sarajevo’s attempt on the life of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, on June 28th, 1914, the Austro-hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. A net of alliances was formed, which pushed the conflict on a European scale.
When Italy entered the war, a “Trentino front” was created across the mountains, and the local populations were dramatically hit, swept away and dispersed for three long years during which appalling destruction was sawn everywhere. Furthermore, Tyrol sent to war about 60.000 Trentino people.
In 1918 the central Europe empires collapsed, war ended, and on November 4th the Italian troops finally took Trento.
Despite the annexation to Italy, the autonomist aspirations of the Trentino people had been strongly stifled during the Fascist regime and the Second World War. Besides, the conflict had damaged Trentino quite heavily, in terms of deportations and air raids.
The autonomist demands grew fervent again once the conflict was over and in January 1948 the Statute for the Region Trentino-South Tyrol was approved, thanks to the agreement achieved in Paris between the Austrain and the Italian Foreign Ministers, Degasperi and Gruber. A few years later however, in 1972, the strong tension between the two ethnic groups (Trentino and South Tyrol), made it necessary to approve two distinct special administrative statutes, one for the province of Trento and another one for the province of Bolzano.
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