The fascination of history

The valley was for centuries a border land and anyone travelling from north to south, between the Germanic and Mediterranean regions, between the lands of the empire and the papacy, would have to pass through here. The past has left an indelible mark on the face of the landscape as we see it today. This is what makes the Piana Rotaliana so fascinating: the past is close at hand and just waiting to be rediscovered.

Like Goethe, who travelled through these lands by carriage on his journey south at the end of the eighteenth century, we can also see today the traces left by an illustrious history in this valley, half hidden by overgrowing vegetation or concealed in the rock: castles under Germanic jurisdiction ( Königsberg castle) harking back to the feudal period, the fears of the Middle Ages epitomised by castles built into rocky crevices ( San Gottardo castle ); and later, cultural expansion under the Prince Bishopric of Trento ( Palazzo Firmian with its frescoes by the renowned Austrian painter Paul Troger).