Surroundings

The episcopal town of Bressanone is situated 660 m above sea level in the beautiful Val d’Isarco. Art, culture and intellectual history play an important role in Bressanone. The South Tyrolean town is more than 1,000 years old – in fact, it’s the oldest town in Tyrol – and was a travel destination of the emperor and magnificent episcopal city.

In the heart of the lower Val d’Isarco at an altitude of 523 metres above sea level lies Chiusa, the picturesque artist's village.
The charming landscape of the city on the Isarco River and its welcoming inhabitants, pretty houses and Gothic churches has attracted a famous artist or two to Isarco in its time – the great Albrecht Dürer often visited Chiusa in the 15th century.

Bolzano is a melting pot of cultures and contrasts: Germans and Italians live here side-by-side. The Alpine and Mediterranean way of life, customs and habits are interwoven. This special symbiosis is also reflected in what the town has to offer in terms of culture, art history and gastronomy.

The “Iceman” is always worth a visit. Housed in the Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, "Ötzi" is now one of the most famous mummies in the world to have been fully preserved in the glacier with a complete set of clothes and equipment.

Bressanone cathedral is the largest church in Bressanone and was an episcopal residence until 1964. Although the Bishop resides in the regional capital of Bolzano today, bishop ordinations and other high religious feasts are still celebrated by the bishop in Bressanone cathedral. This means that Bressanone cathedral is still the highest-ranking church in South Tyrol today. Be sure to visit the adjoining cloister.

Abbazia di Novacella is a monastery of the congregation of the Austrian Augustinian canons in Novacella near Bressanone, municipality of Varna in South Tyrol (Italy). Today, it is an education centre with student lodgings and a private school. The canons in Neustift also have a wine cellar. The white wines – the Sylvaner, Müller Thurgau and the Kerner – are especially well known.

The mineral museum is located in the centre of Tiso at the entrance to the Val di Funes. The collection belongs to Paul Fischnaller, a mineral searcher and collector who knows how to mine these magnificent minerals.

Like a picturesque castle, Sabiona Abbey towers a good 200 m above Chiusa on a prominent rock, the so-called Holy Mountain or Sabiona Mountain. The Monastery has been a Benedictine Monastery since 1687 and was first inhabited by nuns from Salzburg’s Nonnberg. In 1699, Sabiona Monastery was raised to the rank of an abbey and Maria Agnes Zeillerin elected the first abbess.