Points of interest in the environs

Meran And Environs

Meran

1 The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle

St. Valentin-Str. 51/a, Phone +39 0473 255600, www.trauttmansdorff.it

Colorful plants from all around the world thrive and bloom in Trauttmansdorff’s more than eighty garden landscapes. Multifaceted Experience Stations, spectacular themed gardens, Artist Pavilions and intriguing animals turn the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle into a colorful world where visitors enjoy a variety of different experiences. The Castle houses an interactive museum: the Touriseum.

2 The Touriseum

(South Tyrol's Museum of Tourism at Trauttmansdorff Castle)

St. Valentin-Str. 51/a, Phone +39 0473 255656, www.touriseum.it

It is the first museum in the Alpine region dedicated exclusively to the history of tourism.

Interactive displays take you on an exciting journey through time that tells the story of 200 years of tourism from the point of view of both tourists and locals alike. Mechanical theatre shows, detailed models, films, audio: the Touriseum is anything but a dusty old museum full of tedious texts.

3 The Prince's Castle

Galileistraße, Phone +39 329 0186390, www.gemeinde.meran.bz.it/de/Landesfuerstliche_Burg

In the fifteenth century, Archduke Sigismund of Austria built the Prince´s Castle behind the town hall. It comprises a courtyard, a battlement parapet, and two floors with a number of small rooms. The furnishings date from the Gothic and Renaissance periods. There is a chapel in the castle featuring a fresco that dates from the sixteenth century. An exhibiton of historical weapons and a collection of antique musical instruments are also of particular interest.

Naturns

4 St. Proculus Church and Museum

St. Prokulusstraße, Phone +39 0473 673139

Although inconspicuous from the outside, the St. Proculus Church hides a priceless treasure within: impressive frescoes from the early Christian 8th century, which make the church one of the most important artistic treasures in Central Europe.

Alongside the early Carolingian frescoes, the church is also decorated with Gothic frescoes dating from the 14th century, including a depiction of the Creation on its exterior. Later frescoes that covered the oldest mural paintings have been removed and are now on display in the Proculus Museum opposite the church.

5 MMM Messner Mountain Museum Juval

Juval 3, Phone +39 0471 631264, www.messner-mountain-museum.it

The museum in Juval Castle in Vinschgau is dedicated to the Magic of the Mountain and houses several fine art collections: a Tibetica collection, a gallery of paintings of the world’s holy mountains, a collection of masks from five continents, a unique Gesar of Ling exhibition, a Tantra Room and the Expedition Cellar. Trained guides are available to explain all the exhibits.

How to get there:

>> by foot: Waalweg path from Tschars to the castle (approx. 1,5 hours)

>> shuttle bus: services daily except Wednesdays from the car park to the restaurant "Schlosswirt" Juval. From there it is a 15 minute walk to the castle. Timetable and booking: www.juvalshuttle.com

6 Texelgruppe Nature Park House

Naturns, Phone +39 0473 668201, www.naturparks.provinz.bz.it

Experiencing, understanding and preserving nature – this is the role of the Texelgruppe Nature Park House in Naturns. The largest natural park in South Tyrol is characterized by massive contrasts, from almost Mediterranean-looking areas to rugged, high-Alpine landscapes. High mountain pastures, farms, old stone walls and ancient trails are all testimony to human settlement and hard work. In the Texelgruppe Nature Park House, this world becomes playful for children and informative for adults, palpable and visible. Aquariums, microscopes and video presentations provide exciting insights in the natural landscape of the region, while nature itself can be discovered with all the senses by smelling, touching and hearing on a guided tour.

Schnalstal Valley

7 archeoParc Schnalstal valley – tracking Ötzis trails

Unser Frau 163, Phone +39 0473 676020, www.archeoparc.it

The outdoor archaeological museum near the location where Ötzi the Iceman was found in the Schnalstal valley shows where and how Ötzi and his contemporaries lived 5,300 years ago. You will see reproductions of Ötzis clothing and equipment as well as reconstructed Stone Age buildings. Demonstrations and workshops are held every day such as making fire, baking bread and archery...

8 Carthusian Monastery Allerengelbergthe monastery of Karthaus

Karthaus, Phone +39 0473 679148, www.schnalstal.it

Visiting the town of Karthaus is like a journey into the past. The town was built inside the walls of the Cloister of Certosa degli Angeli, founded in 1326 and reopened in 1782. The Via Crucis of the ancient cloister is especially interesting.

Dorf Tirol

9 Bird Care Centre Tyrol Castle

Schlossweg 25, Phone +39 0473 221500, www.gufyland.com

The daily flight shows on Tyrol Castle hill are an inspiring experience. Twice a day at 11.15 am and 3.15 pm captive-bred falcons, vultures, eagles, buzzards, kites and owls are released to fly above the city of Meran. The centers’ primary role is to nurse injured birds back to health and return them to the wild as soon as possible. Closed on Monday.

10 South Tyrolean Museum of History Tyrol Castle

Schlossweg 24, Phone +39 0473 220221, www.schlosstirol.it

The castle of the Counts of Tyrol houses the South Tyrolean Museum of History and Culture. An interactive walk through the manor illustrates the main themes of the region’s past, its art, social history and everyday life in a medieval castle. In the keep visitors can explore 20 levels, each dealing with crucial events of the 20th century. Multimedia stations and an extensive collection of documents illustrate the long road to South Tyrols’s autonomy. In addition, each year visitors can view important special exhibitions.

SCHENNA

11 Schenna Castle

Schlossweg 14, Phone +39 0473 945630, www.schloss-schenna.com

Built around 1350, Schenna Castle is one of South Tyrol’s finest and most important castles. The many collections of Archduke John, the original furnishings and personal everyday objects of the time, weapons covering a period of six centuries, paintings by famous Tyrolean artists, portraits of the Habsburgs and the family of the Counts of Meran, the largest private collection of Andreas Hofer items, magnificent ovens, the archducal table service – not forgetting the Castle’s magnificent location high above Meran, once the city of residence of the Counts of Tyrol, with its wonderful views over the surrounding countryside and mountains.

LANA

12 Museum of Fruit Cultivation

Brandisweg 4, Phone +39 0473 564387, www.obstbaumuseum.it

As South Tyrol's traditional and largest fruit producing municipality, Lana is the ideal location for the collection and display of information regarding the history of fruit-growing Thus the South Tyrolean fruit-growing museum gives an interesting overview on the fruit-growing aspects of agricultural life.

13 Parish church and the Schnatterpeck Altar

Schnatterpeckstraße, Phone +39 0473 333 4342596

The parish church of Niederlana is among the most beautiful examples of South Tyrolean Late Gothic art. Its magnificent winged altar by Hans Schnatterpeck is known far beyond the borders of the country.are home to a painting and portrait gallery, a weapons collection, as well as numerous art-historic objects of Tyrolean history.

Ultental Valley

14 The Lahnersäge Visitor Centre

St. Gertraud, Phone +39 0473 798123, www.lahnersaege.com

In the Ultental Valley, the Lahnersäge Visitor Centre explains and documents the vital role of the forests in the National Park Stilfser Joch. Nearby, a 200-year old Venetian sawmill was discovered and later restored to full functionality. Demonstrations of traditional workmanship are on display, using the refurbished Venetian saw. The production of boards and other wooden items is demonstrated at the refurbished old sawmill.

15 Ancient larch trees

St. Walburg 4, Phone +39 0473 795387

These three larch trees, to be found near St. Walburg in Ulten Valley, are considered to be the oldest conifers in Europe. Legend has it that these ancient larch trees are more than 2,000 years old.

If you would like to visit them, you can reach the ancient larches along an easy walking path starting below St. Gertraud, taking about 30 minutes.

Passeiertal Valley

16 Museum Passeier – Andreas Hofer

Passeirerstraße 72, Phone +39 0473 659086, www.museum.passeier.it

The museum is located at the Sandhof Farm, the birthplace of Andreas Hofer. It tells, in a lively and entertaining way, how a bearded innkeeper and cattle-dealer became a Tyrolean folk hero. Alongside numerous pictorial and written exhibits, there are audio stations, films and areas for children. The exhibition “Heroes & Us” presents large light cones to illuminate the fascinating topic of the function of role models. The open-air exibition represents a typical farmstead of the Passeier Valley.

17 Museum

of Mining - Location Schneeberg

Rabenstein 52/53, Phone +39 0473 932900, www.bergbaumuseum.it

The Schneeberg site and the miners settlement of St. Martin is located at 2.355 metres above sea level and - only accessible by foot.

Miners for centuries dug for hours on the Schneeberg mountain, first with sledgehammers and picks, later with heavy equipment. The miners settlement was on occasion home to up to 1.000 people, totally isolated far above the treeline. Europe’s highest permanent settlement remained inhabited until the 1960s. Today, an unimaginable 150 km of tunnels penetrate the mountain. Above ground, the intensive mining operations have permanently changed and reshaped the landscape.

BOLZANO

18 South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Museumstraße 43, Phone +39 0471 320100, www.iceman.it

Ötzi, the Iceman, is a glacier mummy from the Copper Age, who, thanks to extraordinary circumstances, has been preserved down to the present day. He was accidentally discovered in 1991 by hikers together with his clothing and equipment, on the Schnalstal Valley glacier and has been the subject of intensive research ever since. The permanent exhibition is dedicated entirely to Ötzi. It is housed on three floors of the Museum and displays everything of interest about the world’s most famous glacier mummy.

19 MMM Messner Mountain Museum – Firmian

Sigmundskronerstraße 53, Phone +39 0471 631264, www.messner-mountain-museum.it

As the centerpiece of the Messner Mountain Museum, MMM Firmian in Sigmundskron Castle addresses the subject of man’s encounter with the mountains. In a setting dominated by the various peaks between the Schlern and the Texel range, the museum is spacious enough to be organized as an itinerary between the various works of art, installations and relics that it houses. The paths, stairs and towers lead visitors from the depths of the mountain, where their origins and exploitation are brought to life, and the religious significance of the peaks as an aid to orientation and a bridge to the beyond, to the history of mountaineering and the alpine tourist industry that we know today.

20 Runkelstein Castle

Sill 15, Phone +39 0471 329808, www.runkelstein.info

Runkelstein Castle encloses the largest cycle of secular frescoes dating back to the Middle Ages. Its representation of medieval society and its strategic location made it one of the foremost attractions of our region.

Vinschgau Valley 21 Martelltal Valley

The Martelltal Valley lies in the Stelvio National Park and is considered one of the most beautiful side valleys in the Vinschgau Valley. It rises 950 m up to the Cevedale Glacier at 3,769 m. It is the highest altitude of strawberry cultivation anywhere in Europe. You shouldn't miss to visit the Plima Gorge with four imposing constructions, a real spectacle of nature!

SCHLUDERNS 22 Churburg Castle

Churburg 1, Phone +39 0473 615241, www.churburg.com

The visitors find an impressive Renaissance castle enhanced by the remarkable paintings in the arcades surrounding the courtyard. The world renowned private armoury is the largest of its kind. The harnesses, all made for members of the family, are of incomparable artistic and historic value. Visits are only possible with a guided tour.

23 Mals

Mals is famous for his romance churches and steeples. In earlier times, the 5,000-strong community once had seven steeples and five of them are still in existence.

24 GLURNS – THE SMALLEST CITY IN THE SOUTHERN ALPS

With its 900 inhabitants, the historic town of Glurns in the south of Mals is one of the smallest cities in the world. First mentioned in 1304 as Glurns has hardly changed over the centuries. This gem of the Upper Vinschgau Valley has a medieval centre and boasts the only intact enclosed fortification, complete with fully preserved ramparts and picturesque gate towers.

25 LAAS – THE VILLAGE OF MARBLE

High above Göflan and the idyllic village of Laas, at the foot of the Ortler massive, there is a quarry where the purest marble in Europe has been mined for centuries. This marble is not only pure in character, but extremely hard, durable, and weather-resistant. A series of guided tours and marble-themed hikes leading to the White water marble quarry, the Göflan quarry or the incline quarry railway used to transport the heavy marble slabs down to the valley offer visitors an interesting insight into the history of the local marble industry. The interior of the centuries-old marble quarry itself cannot be visited for safety reasons.

Prad Am Stilfserjoch

26 Aquaprad Visitor Centre

Kreuzweg 4, Phone +39 0473 618212

Water is the main theme at the visitor center aquaprad. After entering the facility, visitors can hear, see and taste water. 30 local fish species can be seen in twelve spectacular tanks. In an impressive manner, visitors will receive insight into the local fish fauna – from mountain streams to rivers, from high mountain lakes to the floodplain.

Burgeis

27 Benedictine Abbey Marienberg

Schlinig 1, Phone +39 0473 843980, www.marienberg.it

Marienberg Abbey above Burgeis dates back to the 12th Century. The highest located Benedictine abbey in Europe is situated at an altitude of 1,340 m a.s.l., since 900 years monks live here according to the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Today, the main hall displays impressions about the daily life of the monks marked by Benedict's credo ora et labora. The exhibition displays also beautiful paintings such as the Romanesque Crypt frescoe with its unique depiction of angels.