Stelvio - Stelvio

Disambiguation - For toponyms of identical name, see Stelvio (disambiguation).

Stelvio (Stilfs in German) is a city of Trentino Alto Adige.

To know

Its population is almost all native speakers of German (98.46%); 1.54% Italian; no Ladin percentage.

Geographical notes

The territory of the municipality includes the Val di Solda and the val di Trafoi, two lateral valleys of the Val VenostaThere are some of the highest mountains in the Eastern Alps: in particular theOrtles (3,906 m a.s.l.), the highest peak in Trentino Alto Adige. At its foot there is also the second highest pass in Europe, the Stelvio Pass (2,758 m a.s.l.). It is 25 km from Silandro, 18 from Malles Venosta, 16 from Glurns, 58 from Merano.

Background

Little frequented because it was too dangerous, its territory was however crossed by foreign armies in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, assuming a limited importance during the wars of ValtellinaThe development then took place in the first half of the nineteenth century when, between 1820 and 1825, the Stelvio road was built by decree of Francis I of Austria, with obvious military purposes.

The strategic importance of the territory was also to be confirmed in 1848, when a column of volunteers from Valtellina held the Pass for over four months, and fights were repeated even during the First World War. Stelvio National Park (German Stilfserioch Nationalpark).

The architecture of historical or artistic value is almost entirely of a religious nature, made up mainly of small churches in the various localities, such as the one built on the pass in 1938, near the monument erected on the occasion of the centenary of the construction of the road. to Solda, while the chapel at the bottom of the Trafoi valley dates back to the Baroque era, where the ancient sanctuary stands which probably took the place of a pre-Christian place of worship.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

Its municipal territory also includes the villages of Gomagoi, Solda, Trafoi and Passo dello Stelvio.

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

• Brenner A22 motorway exit a Bolzano.
• It is crossed by the state road 38 of the Stelvio.

On the train

• Train station in Spondigna on the line Merano - Malles Venosta

By bus

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

How to get around

What see

In Gomagoi

• Fort Gomagoi (Werk Gomagoi). It is an Austrian fort built in 1859 to defend the borders of the empire. It belongs to the large system of Austrian fortifications on the Italian border.

The fort stands on the road that leads from Prato allo Stelvio to the Stelvio Pass, just beyond the town of Gomagoi, at an altitude of 1270 meters. This fortress, together with the Fort Weisser Knott, Fort Klein Boden and other minor fortifications, formed it Gomagoi barrage.

This type of fortifications belongs to the first generation of fortresses, i.e. those built towards the end of 1859.

It was part of the Stelvio I Rayon Sector and was intended to impress the invaders rather than arrest them. The fort in fact barred the valley which at that point is very narrow, with the stream on one side and the mountain on the other. Captain Giovan Battista Adami made a first survey of the fort in a completely autonomous way.

In the beginning the road passed next to the building, on the opposite side of the stream, but after the end of the hostilities the fort was cut in two parts, since the new road that led to the Stelvio Pass. Until the 2000s, the fort was used as an ANAS warehouse and vehicle depot and has been undergoing restoration since 2012.

Originally the fort was positioned only on a roadside, and was defended nearby by a caponiera, and thanks to it it had a 180 ° view, which allowed it to keep under control both the Stelvio Pass and the direction of the Val Venosta.

It was arranged on two floors and presented a rather singular shape, given by the fact that the fort had a double defensive action. Compared to the body on the right, the one on the left presented a fortified image, in fact the semicircular plan offered 10 slits for the cannons on the curved wall. : On the right of the fort there was a minefield. 

• Fort Weisser Knott (Werk Weißer Knott). Fort Weisser Knott (in German) is one of the Austro-Hungarian forts belonging to the large Austrian fortification system on the Italian border. Located in Val Trafoi, along the Stelvio road, it is at a height of 2,200 meters.

It was part of the Gomagoi Barrage, which also included fort Gomagoi and fort Kleinboden, which together had the task of defending access from the Stelvio pass.

It was built near other field posts that rose nearby.

To reach it you have to go through the town of Prato allo Stelvio, proceeding in the direction of the Stelvio Pass. We pass the villages of Gomagoi and Trafoi and continuing we reach a place of refreshment called Weißer Knott. Going along further hairpin bends, you reach a subsequent refreshment post; from here, following path number 16 to the right which leads to Weißer Knott, you will reach the fort. 

• Fort Kleinboden. Located along the Val Trafoi on the road that leads to the Stelvio Pass, at an altitude of 2000 meters, the fortification is located in the locality of Dosso di Sluderno (Eck), between the Forcola refuge and the Campo Piccolo hut (Kleinboden). Around the fort there are other remains of fortifications, such as the Kleinboden Lager and the Schafseck.

The fort together with Fort Gomagoi and Fort Weisser Knott, constituted the Gomagoi-Taufers barrage. At the beginning of the hostilities of the First World War, the Stelvio pass it was not yet occupied by either side. The commander of the Austrian gendarmerie, Lieutenant Andreas Steiner, was ordered to go and observe the area. In the event of an enemy invasion, he was to immediately retreat with his soldiers to the Kleinboden stronghold. But the facts did not go that way, in fact the Austro-Hungarian soldiers occupied the dominant positions in the area.

To reach the fort you have to pass the village of Prato allo Stelvio, proceeding towards Gomagoi and then deviating in the direction of Stelvio-San Martino until you reach the Forcola Refuge at an altitude of 2153 meters; from here, a path leads to the Kleinboden locality. 

In Solda

The village Solda (Sulden in German) at 1,906 m above sea level, is known as a winter and summer tourist resort, located at the foot of the mountain massif ofOrtles-Cevedale, to which it gives access via a dense network of paths, a cable car (Solda cable car) and two chair lifts (Seggiovia dell'Orso and Seggiovia Pulpito) .The well-known mountaineer Reinhold Messner has built one of the seats of his museum there Messner Mountain Museum, At the end of the world, and imported a dozen Tibetan yaks there.

• Old parish church (Altepfarrkirche). It is a simple rectangular construction with a polygonal choir and a lateral bell tower.

In its current form it dates back to the 16th century, but its existence dates back to at least the 14th century, as it was mentioned for the first time as early as 1369 and on the north-west wall there are probably pictorial fragments from that era.

The altarpiece, depicting Saint Gertrude, is the work of Johann Siess from Pusteria (1851). On the walls, instead, the via crucis and the burial of Jesus (1558) are represented.

The new church it rises not far from the old one and is considerably larger. 

• Messner Mountain Museum. The Messner Mountain Museum (MMM) is a museum project conceived by the South Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner. It is a museum circuit divided into six different locations in the Alps.

The head office is a Firmiano Castle, near Bolzano, while the others are located in different locations: within Juval Castle, home of the climber in Val Venosta, dedicated to the myth and sacredness of the mountain; in Solda, a hamlet of Stelvio, dedicated to the world of ice; at the Forte Monte Rite a Cibiana di Cadore, dedicated to rock and Dolomite mountaineering; in the Castle of Brunico in Val Pusteria, dedicated to the mountain peoples; to Plan de Corones, in a structure that bears the signature of the architect Zaha Hadid, dedicated to the history of mountaineering.

The MMM Ortles museum it is located in Solda at about 1,900 meters above sea level. This venue deals with the theme of ice through the exhibition of paintings with views of the Ortles and of equipment, ancient and modern, which were used in climbing and ice climbing activities, in skiing and expeditions to the poles, while outdoors the royal ice of the peaks embrace the valley and the museum.

This site was built from scratch thanks to the collaboration of Reinhold Messner with the architect Arnold Gapp. This structure is accessed through a large opening cut into the side of a small hill: once you enter, a ramp leads deep into the ground as in an artificial cave, made of exposed reinforced concrete. The structure is illuminated by natural light that comes from above thanks to a long cut on the surface of the ground, a cut that appears almost like a crevasse in a glacier. 

In Trafoi

The fraction was the birthplace of Gustav Thöni, one of the most successful skiers in the history of this sport.

• Three Holy Fountains. They are located near Trafoi, and are said to have healing properties. By Ladin translation they give the town its name. The Three Holy Fountains are part of a sanctuary (erected in 1229), but in ancient times it was studied, the Celtic druids instructed their successors here. 

• Stelvio Pass (Stilfser Joch). With its 2758 meters of altitude it is the second highest automobile pass inEurope after the Colle dell 'Iseran whose road reaches 2770 m s.l.m.

It divides the western Rhaetian Alps from the southern Rhaetian Alps and lies within the Stelvio National Park near important massifs such as Mount Livrio, Ortles and Mount Scorluzzo; it is near the border with the Swiss Grisons, to which it is connected via the nearby Giogo di Santa Maria-Passo dell'Umbrail (2503 m a.s.l.).

The homonymous state road that crosses it, connecting Bormio and the Valtellina with Trafoi and la Val Venosta, has 48 hairpin bends on the South Tyrolean side and 36 on the Lombard side.

On all three sides, the two Italians and the Swiss one, the pass remains closed during the entire winter period (winter closure) and beyond between October and May.

The Stelvio has always been an important summer connection especially for its tourist and sporting vocation, not only for ski and mountain tourism, but also because it is a popular destination for cyclists and motorcyclists.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the emperor Francesco I of Austria wanted a new road that could connect the Val Venosta directly with Milan, then Austrian territory, through the Valtellina. After only three years in 1825 the work was completed.

Near the pass, on the South Tyrolean (then Austrian) part, three fortifications were built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Fort Gomagoi, Fort Klein Boden and Fort Weisser Knott, part of the Gomagoi barrage. Right at the pass there are the remains of the Goldsee fortification.

Until 1915, the pass was covered all year round by a stagecoach service thanks to the efficient work of the diggers during the entire winter. With the arrival of the First World War it was the scene of bitter clashes between the Austrian and Italian infantry, being the pass right on the Italian-Austrian border.

After the victory of November 4, both sides were Italian, the pass lost its original meaning of connection Vienna-Milan and the winter closure was decided. From 2014, to access the pass from the South Tyrolean side, a toll has to be paid. 

• Stelvio National Park. The territory is affected by the Stelvio National Park, a protected area located between the Lombardy and the Trentino Alto Adige.

It is one of the oldest Italian natural parks, created with the aim of protecting the flora, fauna and beauty of the landscape of the mountain group Ortles-Cevedale and to promote the development of sustainable tourism in the Alpine valleys of the Lombardy, of the Trentino andSouth Tyrol.

It has a great wealth of flora and fauna.

In the municipality of Stelvio there is the Naturatrafoi visitor center. The park can be reached via state road 38 of the Stelvio. 

Events and parties

What to do

• Ski. The municipality of Stelvio has four ski resorts (two in Solda, one in Trafoi and one - summer - on the Stelvio pass). 
• Summer skiing. In the early thirties of the twentieth century on the Livrio glacier overlooking the pass the CAI Bergamo built the Livrio Refuge, where the first summer skiing and ice climbing courses were also held.

After the Second World War, the Stelvio enjoyed considerable and growing popularity thanks to the idea of ​​Giuseppe Pirovano and his wife Giuliana Boerchio, who, at the beginning of the fifties, decided to open a well-organized summer ski school on the glacier. , first using the Nagler Hut, then building two more modern shelters on the edge of the glacier and one near the pass.

From the first experience the situation has changed a lot, with the opening of numerous hotels and as many ski schools. The most renowned remains theSki University, the one founded by Pirovano and whose name it still bears despite now being owned by the Banca Popolare di Sondrio, which here also holds the highest bank branch in Europe.

From the parking lot of the pass it can be reached with a first cable car (connects the pass to Monte Trincerone) at an altitude of 3000 m, from which with another modern Funifor cable car built by Hölzl you reach the Livrio where you can take advantage of 4 ski lifts (Geister 1 and 2 , Payer, Cristallo) that allow access to the glacier slopes. 

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Average prices

• 46.55350910.5117241 Tibet restaurant, Road of the Stelvio Pass (in Trafoi), ☎ 39 0473 611635. 

Where stay

Moderate prices

• 46.55772410.5145341 Tuckett Hotel, Trafoi 53, ☎ 39 0473 611722. 2 star hotel 

Average prices

• 46.59786810.5460912 Hotel Sole, via Paese, 29, ☎ 39 0473 611750. 3 star hotel 
• 46.59526910.5450063 Hotel Stilfserhof, via country 156, ☎ 39 0473 611740. 3 star hotel 

Campsites

• 46.54332710.5075614 Camping Trafoi, Via Tre Fontane, 1 (in Trafoi), ☎ 39 0473 611533. 

Safety

Pharmacy

• Kofler, Via Croce, 2 / A (in Prato allo Stelvio), ☎ 39 0473 616144. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• Italian post, Location Solda, ☎ 39 0473 613001. 

Around

• Malles Venosta - The Abbey of Monte Maria and the church of San Benedetto preserve precious Romanesque frescoes with Byzantine influences one, the other Carolingian.
• Glurns - The smallest city in South Tyrol retains the perimeter of the walls, the title of city that comes from an important past and boasts membership in the circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
• Silandro - Capital of the Val Venosta, preserves two of the many manors that dot this part of Alto Adige that goes to the borders of Austria is Switzerland.

Itineraries

• Castles of South Tyrol - A journey to discover the South Tyrolean manors which, born for military purposes, later became largely refined stately homes, centers of culture, examples of fine architecture, testimony to the greatness of the families who built them.

Other projects

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

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