Lavarone - Gschwent Belvedere Fort

What to see in Trentino? The attractions suggested by Trentino in Moto for the holiday in the mountain.

The Lavarone plateau is a pleasant alternation of wide plains, woods, copses, highlands and pastures, including a delightful lake. Such an ensemble evokes the romantic atmosphere that, at the turn of the century, inspired the meditations of Sigmund Freud and which, from the second half of the 19th century, became one of the preferred holiday destinations of the Austro-Hungarian Viennese aristocracy.

The area has a surface of about 25.8 square kilometres, and is located at between 1100 and 1500 metres a.s.l. The name does not refer to a specific town, but to the entire plateau, on which there are three larger towns: Gionghi (hosting the town hall, with conference facilities and tourist offices), Chiesa (where the school building and church are located) and Cappella, surrounded by numerous villages, the scattered heritage of the old mountain farms of Cimbrian origin. An important tourist attraction is the lake, which ranks among the five cleanest lakes in Italy, in a beautiful natural setting just a few hundred metres from the centre of Chiesa.

Historically, the first mention of Lavarone goes back to the 11th century: the most significant periods in its centuries-long history was the German-Cimbrian colonization in the 11th-13th centuries, during which the German language and culture were imported; the Venetian domination in the 15th century; and the construction of the fortifications during World War One (1908-1915), of which the Fort Gschwent Belvedere, now the 'Fortress Museum', is the principal monument. Lavarone is a winter and summer resort, combining relaxation with the activity of its dynamic sports facilities. Included in the Skitour dei Forti and Skipass degli Altipiani itineraries, in winter the location opens its own skiing facilities, with almost 10 km of pistes and a renowned cross-country centre, where the twenty-year old 'Millegrobbe' takes place, a cross-country competition of international renown.

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