Culture

If you want to visit the castles and museums of Trentino with the “Trentino guest card”, you can do it for free or at a reduced price.  Otherwise, if you don’t want to move from Molveno, you can’t miss a visit to these cultural attractions:

Church of St. Vigilio

It dates back to the 13th century and it is consecrated to St. Vigilio, the bishop of Trento who died in 400 A.D. Because of its high artistic value, it belongs to the officially registered treasures of the Autonomous Province of Trento.

The restauration of the wall paintings and the walls has been concluded recently (1991 – 1995). On the wall outside you can admire a valuable portal with a moon-shaped painting displaying Our Saviour, the Virgin Mary and St. John, as well as a cycle of paintings showing the Virgin with Jesus, St. Catherine, St. Vigilio, St. Anthony Abate and St. Cristophorus.

Inside, the church is characterised by the mixture of elements deriving from the Romanic church of the 13th century and a later Gothic building dating from 1536.

Sawmill Taialacqua

It was built in 1500 by a co-operative of villagers thanks to the encouragement of the priest don Taialacqua, who wanted to improve the peasants’ economy based on wood. The building measures approximately 11 x 5 metres, and has got two floors. The wood was cut upstairs, and nearby the worker had a small room where he could cook a meal and sleep at night. The sawdust was deposited downstairs. The mill is water-powered. The water moves the board connected to a

wooden spindle (beech; with a diameter of 10 cm), which in turn activates a crankshaft that cuts the tree trunks.The mill is water-powered. The water moves the board connected to a wooden spindle (beech; with a diameter of 10 cm), which in turn activates a crankshaft that cuts the tree trunks.

The sawmills which worked according to this system were called “Venetian”, in order to distinguish them from those so-called “Angustan” from Central Europe. The Venetian sawmills were bound to the Venetian tradition of wood-trade. The sawmill “Taialacqua” produced boards which were called Molvene and were 6 – 10 millimetres thin. They were used for packaging and sold in the surroundings of Riva del Garda and shipped to the Pianura Padana.Because of its historical importance and its excellent condition, the Venetian sawmill “Taialacqua” has been included in the Ethnographic Itinerary of Trentino compiled by the Museum of Customs and Traditions of the People of Trentino located in San Michele all’Adige.

Pradel: Malga Tovre e Forest Park

Since “Malga Tovre” was in need of renovation and its surrounding land was in need of improvement for mountain grazing, a joint initiative was created, to present guests with the opportunity to see and share in the daily life on an alpine farm.

The didactic farm provides all with emotional, manual and fun experiences, also through group and individual interaction in harmony with nature and the animals typical to the alpine tradition.

Open: June to September.

Furthermore, there is also the chance to taste and buy farm produce.

The complex is situated halfway between the hamlets of “Pradel” and “Tovre” and may only be reached on foot (a 15minute walk approximately) from either of the two localities.

Near the didactic farm there ara the adventure park “Forest Park”. See www.forestpark.it