Culture, History and Traditions

Val di Non, a huge fruit orchard in the heart of Western Trentino, is rich in delightful mountain landscapes and small villages with curious fragments of history and culture of the past.
In addition to the castles that characterise the landscape of Val di Non, each village offers the visitors noble palaces, guardians of the memories of a past marked by power struggles between noble families, and churches and chapels with precious frescoes, which reveal the deep religious beliefs of the population. The most famous historical building of the Valley is certainly the Sanctuary of San Romedio, a real treasure chest of mesmerising spirituality, and one of the most beautiful sanctuaries in Europe. A steep staircase of 131 steps leads the visitor past a series of overlapping churches, on top of a cliffs more than 70 metres high. According to legend, Saint Romedio lived here in as a hermit.
Thanks to its morphology and fertile land, Val di Non has been inhabited since prehistoric times: the first settlements date back to Neolithic. The valley was first inhabited by the Raeti and then by the Romans. The Tavola Clesiana, a bronze slab dating from 46 BC was found near Cles in 1869 shows the edict with which the Emperor Claudius granted Roman citizenship to the people of Val di Non. The region was occupied in around 570 by the Longobards and in 1027 it was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. The power then passed into the hands of the Prince Bishops of Trento and some local noble families. The succession of historical events led the valley to be incorporated to the Austrohungaric Empire before returning to Italy after the First World War. After the Second World War a period of considerable economic development took off in Val di Non thanks to the expansion of fruit production.

Festivals and cultural, gastronomic and sport events are organized throughout the year; walks in the apple orchards in full blossom in spring, markets, festivals and historical reinactments take place in summer and autumn. We invite lovers of simple and genuine food to take on "The road of apples and flavours of Valli di Non e Sole", which safeguards the typical and traditional products of the territory. Among the delicacies that Val di Non produces are the cured sausages such as the mortandela, the cheeses such as Trentingrana and all the meagre but genuine products of the land such as the potatoes, used to cook the "tortiei" (fried potato cakes), and the grape from which Groppello wine is produced. However, the undisputed Queen of agricultural production in Val di Non is the apple, juicy and tasty, with many different varieties (Golden delicius, Red delicius, Renetta...) fundamental in the preparation of delicious cakes such as Strudel.