Cembra - Cembra

Cembra is a center of the Trentino Alto Adige.

To know

Autonomous municipality until 1 January 2016, on that date it merged with Lisignago to form the new municipality of Cembra Lisignago, of which it is the municipal seat.

Geographical notes

Located in the Val di Cembra, to which it gives its name, is part of the district of Adige Valley. It is 31 km from Cavalese, 22 from Trento.

Background

Human settlements in the Val di Cembra are documented from the Mesolithic period, a period to which a flint tool found near the nearby Lago Santo dates back; the most famous relic linked to Cembra is one bronze situla, dating back to the 4th century BC. and preserved in the Buonconsiglio castle, found on the Doss Caslir, which also bears writings in the Rhaeto-Etruscan alphabet.

The area was invaded by the Franks in the early Middle Ages, who, as reported by Paolo Diacono, destroyed the "castle of Cimbra" (the first historical attestation of the name). Subsequently the town became part of a fiefdom belonging to the bishopric of Trento, and administered by the lords of Salorno, the Appiano; this jurisdiction also included the towns of Lisignago (court), Faver, Valda and Grauno (but not Grumes, which was a separate jurisdiction).

When the Napoleonic wars affected the Cembra valley it was directly involved; the town was subjected to material damage to buildings and meadows and requisitions of timber and foodstuffs, and there were also several deaths from exanthematous typhus. On March 20, 1797, while 2500 Croatian soldiers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire were stationed there, the French forces attacked Cembra and the other settlements on the right bank from the left bank of the Avisio, causing extensive damage (nearby Faver, for example, was completely destroyed). French sorties also continued the following years, until at least 1801.

Later followed the fate of Trentino until Unity.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

After the constitution (by merger) of the new municipality of Cembra Lisignago, Cembra remained the municipal seat of the new body, which also territorially embraces the towns of Lisignago and Lago Santo on the shores of the homonymous lake.

How to get

By plane

• 46.46027811.3263891 Bolzano-Dolomites Airport (IATA: BZO) (6 km from the center of Bolzano), ☎ 39 0471 255 255, fax: 39 0471 255 202. open to the public: 05: 30–23: 00; ticket office opening: 06: 00-19: 00; check-in for flights from Bolzano is only possible from 1 hour to a maximum of 20 minutes before departure. Small regional airport with scheduled flights to and from Lugano is Rome with Etihad Regional (by Darwin Air). At certain times of the year, the Lauda Air company connects the city with Vienna once a week. On the other hand, charter flights are more numerous. 
• 45.39666710.8877782 Verona Airport (Catullus), Boxes of Sommacampagna, ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected]. 
• 45.42555610.3269443 Brescia Airport (D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto 34, Montichiari (Connections with Brescia airport are guaranteed by public transport via the bus. The stop a Brescia city ​​is located at the bus station (number 23), while that of the airport is at the front of the terminal. There are also connections to the city of Verona via bus / shuttle line 1), ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected]. Charter only 

By car

• Trento Nord motorway exit on the Brenner motorway
• It is crossed by the state road 612 of the Val di Cembra, which is detached from the state road 12 of the Brenner grafting onto state 48 of the Dolomites.

By bus

• Public bus transport services in South Tyrol are managed by SAD [1]

How to get around

What see

• 46.1751511.2187661 Church of San Pietro. In late Gothic style, it is the oldest church in the whole of Val di Cembra. The first documentary evidence of the existence of this church dates back to 1224, however the structure is much older, built even before the parish church of Cembra (the church of Santa Maria Assunta, which dates back to 942); Excavations carried out in 2000 to insert a floor heating system, in fact, have brought to light the remains of a previous structure that has been adapted several times, the oldest parts of which date back to the 5th-6th century.

The primitive building underwent several interventions, once certainly before 1406, when the consecration of the main altar, dedicated to St. Peter, took place; the two side altars, one dedicated to Saint Stephen and the other to Saint Michael, were consecrated respectively in 1421 and 1436.

The current appearance of the church dates back to the period between 1506 and 1510, when it was rebuilt by Michele di Gardena, a master mason who worked in various churches in the valley (such as the Immaculate Conception of Piazzo and San Biagio di Albiano); the subsequent re-consecration of the altars therefore took place in 1525.

Due to the Josephine reforms, the church was closed to worship in 1787, but was reopened in 1799 thanks to the requests of the population; the two side altars were removed because they were unused and in bad condition.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the church underwent various restorations; in 1851-53, in 1888 (with the modification of the facade on a project by the architect Enrico Nordio), in 1912-13, in 1956 (both restoration of the frescoes), in 1966 and 1977 (when the roof was rebuilt and some altered characteristics in previous restorations).

The facade of the church is enclosed between two scalar buttresses and, in addition to the ogival portal and two low quadrangular windows, is pierced only by a circular splayed oculus. The lateral sides are segmented by buttresses similar to those of the front (three on the right side, only one on the left). Single lancet windows open on the right wall of the presbytery, in the oblique walls of the apse and one in the third bay of the right side.

The bell tower, built in the 14th century, rests against the left side: the top is composed of a double bell cell, with a three-light window below and a four-light window above, surmounted by a pyramidal masonry spire.

The interior, consisting of a single nave, is almost completely frescoed: the vault is crossed by a dense network of ribs, and frescoed with a floral motif interspersed with occasional figures of various kinds; the right wall is painted with twenty-four scenes from Biblia pauperum, the work of an anonymous Friulian workshop follower of Gianfrancesco da Tolmezzo. Also by the same author are the frescoes that cover the entire presbytery, depicting God blessing surrounded by a large group of Doctors of the Church and biblical figures (Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory, the four evangelists, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jacob, Moses and Noah) and, further down, Christ blessing with the twelve apostles and a bishop, probably San Vigilio; the back wall of the presbytery shows the crucifixion of Jesus, the one on the left the collection of manna; furthermore, various saints are frescoed in the windows (Apollonia, Lucia, Caterina, Barbara, Giuliana, Margherita, Dorotea, Orsola, Stefano, Lorenzo, Agata and Agnese) and on the sides of the presbytery (Rocco and Sebastiano). All these frescoes were probably finished in 1549, or shortly before.

The left wall is occupied by a Universal judgment by Valentino Rovisi, one of his most important works, dating back to 1759; on the inside of the facade, finally, one stands out Madonna of Mercy from the end of 1600, unfortunately very damaged.

In the church there are also several statues: one Madonna of Loreto probably dating back to the end of the 17th century, located in a niche at the end of the nave; and the surviving wooden statues of the ancient late Gothic triptych altar, datable to around 1515-1520 and of an uncertain author, now lost: St. Peter, St. Paul and two groups of apostles.

At the altar, under a glass plate, the remains of the first structure are visible, in particular of one memory celle which was probably the original location of the stone reliquary found inside the shrine of the main altar, which in turn contained a silver capsule. 

• 46.17347511.2234452 Church of San Rocco. It is located outside the town, on a flat hill that extends towards the center of the valley. The building was born as an ex voto during the years of the plague: the first small structure was built in 1519 and consisted of little more than what is now the apse of the church. The building was considerably enlarged at the time of the plague epidemic of 1630, including the bell tower which was erected between 1617 and 1632. On the facade there are two statues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony of Padua, and above the entrance portal an inscription refers to another ex voto, this one for the cholera of 1836.

The interior of the church is bare; while in documents relating to a pastoral visit of 1580 three altars are mentioned, today only the main one remains, containing a statue of San Rocco. In the pediment there is a seventeenth-century painting by a Venetian artist, depicting Saint Anthony the Abbot, and an altarpiece from the same period, depicting Maria Regina and the Saints John the Apostle, John the Baptist and Francis, hangs on the wall of the presbytery.

The church also housed a seventeenth-century altarpiece depicting St. Ursula, and two sixteenth-century statues of St. Leonard and St. Nicholas, all stolen. 

• 46.17467811.2175953 Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Located in late Gothic style, it is the parish church of Cembra, and since ancient times it has served as a parish church for most of the Val di Cembra.

The church's founding date is unknown; according to a local historian, the Franciscan father Giangrisostomo Tovazzi (1731-1806), an inscription in the presbytery of the first structure, which no longer exists, testified to the existence of this church as early as 942.

Except for a document dated 6 December 1212 (in which the mention of an "Odolricus, Plebanus de Zimbria indirectly implies the existence of the parish church), the church is mentioned for the first time in a will written on 19 December 1224.

This first structure was built in the Romanesque style, but in the second half of the 15th century the building was completely rebuilt in the Gothic style, with three naves covered by ribbed vaults; with a subsequent enlargement in the 17th century a fourth nave was added to the north.

When at the end of 1700 the Napoleonic wars reached the Val di Cembra, the Austrian troops settled for a long time in the church, burning the furniture and ruining it with smoke. In 1800 the church was in poor condition, so in 1833-35 it underwent major expansion works: the new neo-Gothic presbytery was built against the facade, while the old apse was opened and converted into an atrium, so that the orientation of the church was upside down (facing west). In 1866 a fifth nave was added to the south.

The building opens with a salient façade, divided into three parts by four pillars surmounted by as many statues (Giovanni Battista, Giovanni Evangelista, Giovanni Nepomuceno and Filippo Neri, the first two coming from the old high altar, the second two purchased by the parish of Dro); from the central portion protrudes a polygonal atrium (which was the apse of the old church), inside which is the main portal.

The interior of the atrium, pierced by two single-light arched windows, is for the most part frescoed with paintings dating back to the end of the 1400s. The vault is divided into six sails delimited by ribs, which branch off from a circular keystone with a relief of God the Father blessing; in the veil above the entrance there is a fresco of Christ blessing, with Mary and John the Baptist in prayer at his feet; the other sails, clockwise, show: Jesus crucified between Mary and John, and two medallions with the evangelists Luke and Mark inside; the saints Ambrose and Jerome; the Madonna with the child and two angels; the saints Gregory the Great and Augustine; Risen Christ and two medallions with the evangelists John and Matthew inside.

The frescoes on the vault, from 1460-70, are the work of an unknown artist also active elsewhere in the Avisio valleys, while those on the walls are by another painter and a little later, perhaps from 1480-90: the latter are portraits of various saints, rather degraded and therefore difficult to identify (I probably recognize some apostles and the saints Gotthard and Mary Magdalene).

Above the western part of the roof there are two small twin bell towers, dating back to the late 1800s.

The interior it is divided into five naves with four bays each: the three innermost are the oldest and are covered by a reticulated vault, while the two external ones were added later, in the seventeenth century the northern one and in 1865-1866 the southern one.

Next to the entrance, on the right wall, there is a fresco Baptism of Christ dated to 1462, probably the work of German painters. The spans of the central nave are also frescoed: the two closest to the main altar are from the mid-1500s and show plant motifs similar to those of the nearby church of San Pietro; in the third bay the saints Giuda Taddeo and Matteo around the monogram of Christ; in the fourth the saints Matthias, Bartholomew, Philip and James the Less; in the fifth and sixth the Assumption and the Evangelists, these dating back to the beginning of the XVIII century.

The frescoes in the presbytery, on the other hand, date back to 1942; several paintings, from the sixteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, are also located in the sacristy. At the end of the southern nave hangs an altarpiece by Martino Teofilo Polacco, dating back to around 1608, depicting the Madonna del Rosario flanked by saints Domenico, Caterina and other devotees.

The main altar is the most recent, dating back to 1936, and replaces a previous altar from 1842; behind it was placed the organ, first located on an elevated choir that no longer exists, and behind it again a large altarpiece from 1858, depicting theAssumption of Mary. : The altar towards the people contains, in the anti-pendulum, an oil on panel from about 1590, the work of Paolo Naurizio, depicting the adoration of the shepherds, first placed on the main altar of the church of San Pietro.

There are also four minor altars; in the middle of the right aisle there is an altar probably dating back to 1734, with a wooden statue of Saint Anthony of Padua sculpted in the late 1800s; mirroring it, in the middle of the left aisle, another eighteenth-century altar houses a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from 1920, the work of Siegfried Demetz from Val Gardena.

The other two altars, twins in neo-Gothic style, made by Leopoldo Koch in 1872, are located at the two ends of the holy arch; the one on the right houses a statue of St. Joseph, also by Koch, the one on the left, a statue of the Addolorata dating back to 1889. 

Sites of environmental interest

The territory of the former municipality is largely covered by meadows and woods. There are also wetlands and biotopes in the area.

• 46.19611.20834 Holy Lake. It is a lake of glacial origin located between Mount Pincaldo and Mount Cembra, whose existence is substantially due to the damming of the surrounding moraine deposits.

It is about five kilometers from the town of Cembra; the surface freezes in winter, making it suitable for curling. It is a famous tourist destination throughout the valley.

The name of the lake derives from a local legend according to which in its place there was once a land disputed between several heirs; one of them, exasperated by the continuous quarrels, prayed that a lake would rise in place of the ground and so it happened, but the water that continued to rise risked endangering the town of Cembra. The parish priest then threw inside the ring that adorned a statue of the Madonna, stopping the rising of the water and saving the town.

It passed near the lake at the end of 1400 Albrecht Dürer, on its way to Venice, who painted it in some watercolors. 

• Val di Cembra (Zimmerstal). Located on the left bank of the Adige river, it is crossed by the Avisio torrent; can be reached from Adige Valley, taking a Lavis the state road 612 that goes up the Avisio valley until reaching Val di Fiemme, or at the height of San Michele all'Adige the SP 131 Strada del vino / San Michele-Giovo; it can also be reached from Valsugana taking the SP 71 Fersina-Avisio at the height of Civezzano.

The valley is made up of a series of small inhabited centers, lying on slopes and often characterized by a particular housing and architectural typology: some Cembran villages in fact have houses gathered and leaning one next to the other.

From an orographic point of view, the valley is located within the Fiemme Dolomites and divides the Northern Fiemme Dolomites from the Southern Fiemme Dolomites.

In the municipality of Segonzano there are particular earth pinnacles with very suggestive shapes, known as Pyramids or Omeni of Segonzano, result of the disintegration of the mountains and the action of water.

One of the most important resources of the valley is agriculture and in particular viticulture, followed by fruit growing (especially small fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.). The landscape of the valley is marked by the presence of numerous vineyards, supported by large terraces. However, the characteristic construction of dry terraced vineyards did not negatively affect the territory, but rather maintained a landscape typical of the Avisian hills. The wine production is of high quality and quantitatively very significant in the Trentino area; particularly famous is the variety Müller Thurgau.

Another very important economic resource for the valley is represented by the extraction and processing of porphyry. This activity has heavily modified the appearance of the entire valley due to the presence of both the enormous open-air quarries and the landfills of inert residues from porphyry extraction. 

• Peat bog of Lagabrun. A biotope that serves as a habitat for some rare invertebrates, such as Agabus lagabrunensis, a species of beetle in the Dytiscidae family 

Events and parties

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Average prices

• 46.17524811.2225291 Bar Pizzeria Saint Rock, Viale IV Novembre, 51, ☎ 39 0461 683030. 

Where stay

Average prices

• 46.174711.2228231 Hotel Al Caminetto, Via C. Battisti, 7, ☎ 39 0461 683007. 
• 46.17154311.2198722 Hotel Europa, Via San Carlo 19, ☎ 39 0461 683032. 
• 46.17118911.2154163 ^{[link not working]}Agritur Maso Val Fraja, Via Valfraja, ☎ 39 0461 680096. 
• 46.17492511.2211564 Nardon farmhouse, Location Valfraia 1, ☎ 39 0461 680096. 

Safety

Pharmacy

• 46.17484211.2207444 Martini, Via IV Novembre, 44, ☎ 39 0461 683021. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• 46.17485311.2214535 Italian post, Viale IV Novembre 58, ☎ 39 0461 682287. 

Around

• Egna - Its main feature is the arcades that create a suggestive atmosphere especially in the main street. It is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
• Trento - Capital of the region, its symbol is the Buonconsiglio Castle, the largest and most important monumental complex in the Trentino Alto Adige. It hosted, from the thirteenth century up to the eighteenth century, the prince bishops of Trento.
• Salorno - The amazing position of its castle, perched like an eagle's nest on a rocky outcrop, its waterfall, the richness of the flora and fauna of its territory certainly make it a good destination.

Itineraries

• Dolomite passes - The itinerary follows the most scenic passes of the Dolomites, where the rock and nature are the protagonists.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Cembra
• Commons contains images or other files on Cembra

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