All forts and castles

The Mortner Gufl is located on the old Steinegger carriage road, which at that time connected Steinegg|Collepietra with Kardaun|Cardano and Bozen|Bolzano.  About 500 m from the farm Mortner in the direction of Kardaun, there is an extensive, flat square with a thick stone slab hanging over it, as if it wanted to provide a protective roof for the little place. It is said that a hermit, the Mortner Hias, lived here during the First World War. He even set up a farm oven in this natural dwelling and walled the place up. The hermit wove baskets here. During the Second World War, this place was used as an air-raid shelter for the inhabitants of the nearby farm Mortner. Some remains of the wall can still be discovered and admired today.
In 1951, there is also said to have been an apparition of the Virgin Mary at this special place.
A descriptive board on site tells of these extraordinary occurrences at the Mortner Gufl.
Route description:
From the car park at Cafè Christl, walk past the Resch Market grocery shop along hiking trail [2] / Rittersteig. Continue along the Rittersteig past the Ebenhof farm until you reach the turnoff to the Mortner farm. Here you walk a short distance in the direction of Mortner farm and then immediately turn left to Mortner Gufl.
The way back is via the same path.

You will soon find more information about lime kiln in Tisens/Tesimo here

About an hour from Seis am Schlern you will find the ruins of Hauenstein on an enormous mountain slope. These ruins were once home to poet and singer Oswald von Wolkenstein, and every so often in the quiet of the night, one can hear the sounds of violins and the mournful song of a maiden who is said to have been bewitched there. Late one evening, shepherds were guarding their flocks around the castle. They sat to rest at the entrance to the castle and recounted one tale after another. All of a sudden, they sensed that somebody in the castle had opened a window. They looked up and saw, through the shimmering light of the open window, a woman combing her long hair. Her head, however, was but a skull, and the shepherds blood curdled at the sight of such beautiful hair growing from a head so fearsome. The woman threw stones and sand at the flock of sheep, who ran in terror. It's believed that the skeleton is the wife of a banished knight, destined to roam the castle until the return of her lost spouse.

Since 2011 the Schluderns Gate Tower in Glurns hosts a permanent exhibition concerning the history of this little medieval town, such as trade, customs, daily life and curiosities.

Witches'spring: adventure path with the witch Curadina to the sulfur springs

First mentioned in 1322, this parish church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. The beautiful cemetery, which is beautifully cared for and decorated with artistically forged crosses, is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in South Tyrol.he beautiful cemetery, which is beautifully cared for and decorated with artistically forged crosses, is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in South Tyrol.

 

First documented in 1159, the ruins were destroyed many times due to fires and battles, and have always been rebuilt. The castle ruin today bears the name “Sauschloss”, which literally translated means “pork/pig castle”, as according to a legend a pork was thrown out of the castle.

The ruins are only 15 minutes walk from the restaurant Noafer in Cologna/San Genesio.

First documented in 1180, from year 1600 it has been used as a holiday station by the Agostinian monks from the convent of Muri Gries. All around the little church of S. Magdalene you can find the old master's house, the prelate's house, the 'Stegerhof' with its rural buildings that is nowadays' summer residence of the Benedictine monk of Muri Gries.

Towering high above the deep Eggental Canyon is the impressive Cornedo Castle.

The symbol of the local municipality, it was built around 1200 by the Greifenstein family and is considered one of the most beautiful in South Tyrol. Among the highlights are the courtyard and fountain, open-air staircases and loggia spread over two floors.

Tours (only possible with a guide) are held in April, May, June, September and October on Fridays at 3:00 pm.

Reservation necessary!

The City of Artists and Albrecht Dürer
The medieval city, which is surpassed in height by the mighty Sabiona Monastery mountain, proudly calls itself the "City of Dürer." Here, where the city was the scene of intense artistic activity just a hundred years ago, is where Albrecht Dürer stopped during his journey through Italy. He exploited his portrait of the city as a background for an allegorical copper-plate engraving titled "Das Grosse Glück" ("Nemesis").

Today, Klausen is still numbered among the most-beautiful of Italy's ancient cities: Its tower-studded facades, its wide alcove balconies, and the picturesque signs of its old inns and pubs were all that was needed to convince the club "I borghi più belli d'Italia" of its worthiness. And the "Treasure of Loreto" (a singular collection of works of art) in the city museum has got to be seen to be believed.

The Lords of Völs built a so-called double castle complex in Steinegg, of which there are only a few left in South Tyrol. The residential castle with a view to the south was built around 1200, and about 100 years later the fortified castle was built on a 30-metre-high cliff with a view into the Eisack Valley. Virtually nothing remains of the former residential castle. But the fortified castle can still be visited. It can be reached via a secure path. The castle gate is still well preserved, as are many of the walls on the south side. However, the former battlements and the tower of the castle have completely decayed.

Parts of the ring walls and the tower of the residential castle were still visible until the middle of the 20th century. These were removed and used as building stones by some local residents who were building their own homes at the time. Today, the "Bergheim" house stands at the foot of the former tower.

The idyllic viewpoint with the castle ruins can be reached on foot from the village centre of Steinegg in 20 minutes.
On site, visitors also have the opportunity to leaf through the legend of "Die Sängerin vom Schloss Karneid"(in German language). The alu-dibond book was illustrated by the Steinegg artist Lena Pichler.

Barns and other farm outbuildings covered with thatched roofs have always been a distinctive characteristic of the villages of Hafling/Avelengo and Vöran/Verano.

A few examples of this archaic architectural construction can still be seen while hiking, including at the Spitzegger and Tötnmoarhof Farmsteads in Verano and at Gfrar in Aschl/Eschio.

Mounting thatched roofs such as these requires a lot of work and skill on the part of the Strohdecker, or roofer. The Strohdecker must bind the straw—usually rye but wheat is also used—on mild winter days into bundles about the diameter of an arm, called Dachschab. A piece of the roof is repaired every year; in this way, the whole layer of straw is completely replaced every twenty years or so.

As Richard Furggler wrote in his compendium entitled Tschögglberg: "The most striking feature of the folkloristic peculiarities of high plateau is—actually, one must almost say ‘was’—the majestic thatched roofs on the farm buildings."

The Witches’ Benches The resting place of the Sciliar/Schlern witches on the Bullaccia/Puflatsch mountain is a truly mythical location. Starting point: Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm