BOLZANO, ITALY ALPS: THE DOLOMITES AND THE CAPITAL OF SOUTH TYROL

OUR TOUR OF BOLZANO, IN THE ITALIAN ALPS OF THE DOLOMITES BEGINS IN PORTICI STREET, THE MOST ANCIENT STREET IN BOLZANO, A VERY BEAUTIFUL, PEDESTRIAN STREET, WITH A LOT OF BARS, RESTAURANTS, SHOPS AND ELEGANT BOUTIQUES

THE MAIN SQUARE OF BOLZANO WAS BUILT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 19th CENTURY AND, AT THE END OF THAT CENTURYM, NAMED AFTER WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE, ONE OF THE MAIN GERMAN POETS AND THE ICON OF THE GERMAN WORLD. THE STATUE WAS PUT HERE IN THE CAPITAL OF THE ITALIAN DOLOMITES AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, AND STRANGELY IT LOOKS SOUTH BECAUSE THAT TIME BOLZANO AND THE SOUTH TYROL WERE PART OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE, LIKE IT WAS SAYING “STOP! HERE BEGINS AUSTRIA". TODAY WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE SQUARE IS A VERY NICE SQUARE, THERE ARE A LOT OF BARS, REALLY GOOD BUILDINGS, IT’S THE HEART OF THE OLD TOWN AND THE SQUARE WHERE THE MAIN EVENTS TAKE PLACE, LIKE THE CHRISTMAS MARKET.

FROM LATE NOVEMBER TO EARLY JANUARY OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR BOLZANO TURNS INTO A SMALL CHRISTMAS VILLAGE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ITALIAN DOLOMITES, WITH HUNDREDS OF STALLS DELIGHTING CITIZENS AND TOURISTS WITH TYPICAL CULINARY PRòDUCTS AND CRAFT PRODUCTS. IN SOUTH TYROL, ON THE 6TH OF DECEMBER, SANTA CLAUS MAKES AN APPEARANCE TO VISIT CHILDREN AND BRING THEM GIFTS. THIS IS THE WAY BOLZANO GETS READY FOR CHRISTMAS.

AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF WALTHER SQUARE YOU CAN SEE THE CATHEDRAL OF BOLZANO, THE MOST IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS BUILDING IN THE SOUTH TYROL DOLOMITES. ITS CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN THE 11TH CENTURY AND ACROSS THE YEARS IT HAS BECOME A MASTERPIECE OF ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ART!
THE MERCANTILE PALACE

IT HOSTS THE MUSEUM THAT RECALLS THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BOLZANO AND SUMMARIZES THE GOLDEN AGE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE, WHICH CONTRIBUTED A LOT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH TYROL, FOR CENTURIES CRUCIAL POINT FOR TRADES BETWEEN CENTRAL EUROPE AND ITALY.
THE VISIT REPRESENTS ANCIENT ROOMS, DOCUMENTS, THE CHAMBER OF THE CHANCELLOR, BAROQUE STYLE PAINTINGS, AND ENDS UP IN THE MAJESTIC CHAMBER OF THE MERCANTILE COURT, UNCHANGED FROM THE 18TH CENTURY
http://www.bolzano.net/en/mercantile-museum.html
MONUMENT TO THE VICTORY

BUILT BY THE FASCIST GOVERN BETWEEN 1926 AND 1928 TO CELEBRATE THE VICTORY OF THE ITALIAN ARMY AGAINST THE AUSTRO - HUNGARIAN EMPIRE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
http://www.monumenttovictory.com/en.html
MARECCIO CASTLE

ACCORDING TO A LEGEND A YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL GIRL NAMED CLARA, WAS ENGAGED TO A KNIGHT NAMED TEOBALDO, WHO LEFT FOR THE HOLY LAND. BEFORE HE LEFT BOLZANO THEY SWORE UNDYING LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. AFTER 3 YEARS TEOBALDO GOT BACK TO BOLZANO, HE WAS EXHAUSTED, WORN-OUT, AND SKINNY, AND NOBODY COULD RECOGNIZE HIM. AT THE SAME TIME HE WANTED A PROVE OF LOVE FROM CLARA. SO HE THOUGHT TO TELL HIS FELLOW CITIZENS THE ADVENTURES OF A SO CALLED “TEOBALDO”, A STRONG AND BRAVE KNIGHT HE MET IN THE HOLY LAND WHO WAS OFFERED TO MARRY A GIRL FROM A VERY RICH FAMILY… AND HE ACCEPTED. CLARA WAS AMONG THE PEOPLE LISTENING TO THE STORY AND SHE RAN AWAY AS SHE HEARD THOSE WORDS. TEOBALDO SAW HER AND REALIZED SHE WAS STILL IN LOVE WITH HIM, SO HE FOLLOWED CLARA WHO GOT HERE AT MARECCIO CASTLE, HE SCREAMED HER NAME, BUT NO ONE ANSWERED. HE COULDN’T FIND HER, HE JUST SAW AN OPEN WINDOW, HE LOOKED DOWN AND SAW THE BODY OF THE GIRL, LIFELESS. WELL, SINCE THEN PEOPLE FROM THE DOLOMITES SAY THE GHOST OF CLARA STILL LIVES IN MARECCIO CASTLE, WAITING FOR HER BELOVED TEOBALDO, THE ONE CLARA PROMISED ETERNAL LOVE.
https://www.maretsch.info/kopie-von-maretsch-home
RONCOLO CASTLE

BUILT ON A ROCKY SPUR THE CASTLE BOASTS AMAZING FRESCOES THAT REPRESENT HUNTING SCENES, KNIGHTS TOURNAMENTS AND SCENES FROM THE DAILY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. BUT ALSO THE ADVENTURES OF TRìSTAN AND ISOLDE, KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, DRAGONS, GIANTS. THE CASTLE HAS THE BEST PRESERVED FRESCOES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. FOR THIS REASON, AND FOR BEING THE MOST PAINTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED CASTLE IN THE 19TH CENTURY, IT IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE "PICTURESCQUE FORTRESS"
https://www.runkelstein.info/home-english
LAKE CAREZZA

LAKE CAREZZA IS KNOWN AS THE RAINBOW LAKE, FOR THE STUNNING COLOR OF ITS WATERS IN SUMMER, AND FOR THE LEGEND OF THE MERMAID ONDINA. THIS LEGEND TELLS ABOUT A WIZARD IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL MERMAID WHO LIVED IN THE LAKE. THE WIZARD CREATED A RAINBOW TO CALL THE ATTENTION OF ONDINA, BUT HE SCARED HER. SHE DOVE INTO THE LAKE NEVER TO EMERGE AGAIN. THEREFORE THE WIZARD SMASHED THE RAINBOW INTO PIECES AND THREW IT INTO THE LAKE. TODAY THE STATUE OF THE MERMAID IS OFTEN UNDERWATER, IN WINTER THE LAKE IS ALWAYS FROZEN AND IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO WALK BY THE SHORES, BUT A PATH ALLOWS YOU VISIT THE CHRISTMAS MARKET.

WOODEN STALLS LIKE HUGE LANTERNS, TYPICAL CULINARY PRòDUCTS FROM THE DOLOMITES AND CRAFT PRòDUCTS, AND STOVES TO WARM UP A BIT. YOU’LL DIVE INTO A FAIRY-TALE WINTER WORLD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ITALIAN ALPS, MADE OF ANCIENT TRADITIONS, MUSIC AND SCENTS OF CHRISTMAS TIME .

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