Trento

Trento, between art and culture

Trento is a city of art, plunged in a landscape that offers, just a few kilometres by car, training climbing-rocks, wellness activities, tracks in the mountains and amazing landscapes. It is a meeting town featured by an old vocation that makes it the protagonist of important historical events mainly between 1545 and 1563, when the Council for the Catholic Reformation was held there.

Going through the centuries we get to the present time and we can see that the core of the town is Piazza Duomo – where the severe and majestic cathedral dedicated to St. Virgilio stands out together with some of the most important palaces of the town. The Pretorio, where the Tridentine Diocesan Museum is based and the Civic Tower next to it, dating back to the XIIIth century that was built near Porta Veronensis, the entrance of the town at the Roman time. There is a peculiar fountain in this square, Neptune and its Trident. It may sound strange to see a sea divinity surrounded by the mountains but there’s an explanation for that although being not very historical. Everything can be explained with the three bumps also called “three teeth” that surround Trento. A legend goes that they are the origin of the name of the town and they were the reason for choosing Neptune, a divinity with the Trident when they decided to build a fountain in the heart of the town that later became one of its main landmarks.

From the legend to the sacred spirit: you mustn’t miss via Belenzani where the urban evolutions wanted by Bernardo Clesio, the Prince-Bishop of the town, are summed up; he chose Trento as the seat of the Council and replaced the ancient arcades with the modern streets you can see now. Let’s go from the sacred to the profane: near via Belenzani there is the huge Fugger-Galasso, dating back to the XVIIIth century that is called “the palace of the devil” according to the popular legend that tells it was built in a night thanks to the intervention of the Devil. In this historical, religious and legendary atmosphere your next stop is the Buoncosiglio , that was at first called “Malconsiglio”! (bad advice) – by the German Mahl, that means assembly, gathering -, afterwards called “Buonconsiglio” (good advice). It was the main seat of the prince-bishops of Trento in the XIIIth century and it is made of a number of different buildings within the walls: Castelvecchio (Old Castle), the big Tower, the Magno Palazzo (the Grand Palace), the Giunta Albertiana, the Eagle Tower. The interior halls of this tower have precious frescoes belonging to the “Cycle of Months” that deserve to be visited.

Trento is an apparently severe town, actually it is brizzy, inclined to the festivals dedicated to the mountains, the International dancing shows, musicals and other attractions. It is lively when the happy-hour time comes, when its inhabitants, according to the tradition, have their “Sas tour”, a walk through via Manci, San Pietro, Oriola and Sas Mazzurana featured by their elegant shop-windows. A town that likes to show different facets proving to be fanciful and charming.

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