San Lorenzo in Banale. Among the most beautiful hamlets of Italy, village of the ciuìga and of walks

Ancient rural village, among the most beautiful of Italy, San Lorenzo in Banale awaits you in its stone and wood houses for a stay into history, surrounded by the green in a sacred silence interrupted only by the sincere welcome of the inhabitants and the lively festival of the ciuìga.

To spend some days here means to enter a different world, suspended between past and present, in a rare quietness, lulled by the noise of the water of the fountains and washtubs, and by the slow rhythms of nature. This is a wonderful hamlet, included by the Touring Club in the list of Borghi più belli d’Italia.

Stretched on a wide sunny plain, the village lies on the Banale plateau, at the entrance of the Val d’Ambiez valley and the nature reserve of the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta. It was created by the fusion of seven ancient hamlets, each with its characteristics still visible in the traditions and united by a road reaching the most important villas of this area: Casa Mazoleti in Prusa, Casa Martinoni in Berghi, Casa dei Sartorei in Senaso, perfect examples of rural architecture. The landscape is overlooked by many churches and bell towers rich of sacred objects and paintings, like the church of San Rocco in Pergnano, with frescoes of the Baschenis brothers. In Prato there is also the Casa del Parco “C’era una volta…”, collecting the rural life of these lands.

This is a village with a long history and many traditions, like the Sagra della Ciuìga, a festival dedicated to this unique local salami with turnips, a delicacy included in the products of the Slow food movement, to which is dedicated an important wine and food event in autumn.

San Lorenzo in Banale is also a perfect starting point for hikes on the Brenta Dolomites, in the WWF oasis of Nembia and in the Val d’Ambiez valley, where you can meet one of the twenty bears of the Brenta. In the last years the resort has been a favourite destination for sport holidays, thanks to a well equipped leisure center with football fields, tennis courts and indoor swimming pool, hiking, jogging and trim trails, and the Parco degli Scoiattoli, where climbers of every age can try 38 climbing routes of every level. Mountain bikers have at their disposal marked trails and the route of the Dolomiti di Brenta Bike tour.