Bressanone/Brixen

Bressanone is today the chief town of the valley. In the past it represented for many years the spiritual center of Alto Adige, as it was an episcopal seat much earlier than this was transferred to Bolzano. Thanks to the historical-artistic patrimony, the city is characterized from buildings where the gothic austerity, the renaissance harmony and the baroque pomp are mixed.

The old part of the city is recognizable from the quadrilateral delimited from via Bastioni to the north, from via Vescovado and via Bruno to the south, from via Bastioni Minori to the west and from via Torre Bianca and S. Albuino to the east. The most beautiful street is Portici Maggiori, with its embattled houses.
The historical center is characterized from ancient houses and presents the Dome, the parish church of San Michele and the Palace of the Bishop Princes, with its Renaissance galleries and the baroque facades that make the court one of most evocative of the Alto Adige. Inside the palace you find the Crib Museum, a splendid collection of 10,000 handmade figures.

In Varna there is the Novacella Abbey, one of the most beautiful monuments of the Alps and seat of an Augustinian convent.

La Plose, at 2500 meters, dominates Bressanone. It is a well known ski area and a very attended hiking locality.