5th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew

Trentino-Alto Adige: General Background

Trentino is located in the south of the Alps, in the north-eastern part of Italy. The total area is 6,212 m2, which represents the 2.06 % of the Italian surface. The population is about 470,000 people and the average overall density is 75,7 person/km2. The territory is prevalently occupied by mountains (more then 20 % of the total area is over than 2,000 m altitude and 50 % is occupied by forest). About 17 % of the total area is environmental protected territory (natural parks, biotopes, etc.). Only 1ess than 10 % of the total area is cultivated. The main economical resource is tourism, agriculture contributes more than 2 % to the R.I.P. (apple, plum, strawberry and small fruits: 37 %; grapevine: 29 %; rearing: 26 % and 8 annual crops: 8 %).
Because of its geographic position between northern and Mediterranean Europe, Trentino has always been a land of encounter and exchange on this route taken by populations since the Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras, as its history and interesting traditions show. Ever since ancient times, thanks to its specific geographical position between the European continent and the Mediterranean, Trentino has represented an essential passage, a crossroads for a cultural exchange between different populations, a fact that is clearly evident in local traditions and history.

Short Overview of the History of Trentino-Alto Adige:

History

Trentino, inhabited by hunting and gathering societies ever since the Mesolithic Age, was progressively "invaded" by groups of farmers/stock breeders who settled in the Valle dell'Adige. Here numerous and important archaeological remains have been found, which take us from round about the year 1,000 BC up to the era of the Rhaetians and the Cenomani Gauls, settlers in the area.
Around about the year 100 BC Trentino became a "Roman Province" (The Roman Age). After the fall of the Roman Empire, Trentino falls under the rule of the Ostrogoths, the Lombards and the Franks (Middle Ages). In the year 952, the region of Trento becomes part of the Kingdom of Germany. On 9th April, 1004 the Bishop Principality of Trento is founded with the investiture granted by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, to Bishop Uldarico I. The bishop, who exercises legislative and judicial powers, controls now the "way to Italy". The Venetians take possession of Vallagarina and Rovereto and stay for a century.
On 24th June 1511, Maximilian, Emperor of Austria and Count of the Tyrol, establishes the so called "Landlibell" that the Principalities of Trento and Bressanone are confederate states with the Tyrol, which is under obligation to defend the territory. The Council (1545-1563), which makes the town of Trento famous all over the world, is a creation of the Bishop Prince Bernardo Clesio, as well as the great development of humanistic science and the transformation of the town.
Napoleon's era gives the end of the Bishop Principality. When the Spanish War of Succession breaks out, Trentino is invaded by French troops and Trento, under siege, is bombed by General Vendôme's troops on 3rd September 1703. On 24th July 1777 Pietro Vigilio Thun, the last price-bishop of Trentino, reaches an agreement with Maria Teresa of Austria, according to which the Principality of Trento is bound to the county of Tyrol. It is the beginning of the end for the Principality. From 1796 until 1803 Trentino is occupied three times by French troops and is occupied an equal number of times by the Austrians. Finally the Principality of Trento, as well as that of Bressanone, are secularised: the territory is handed over to the Hapsburgs, who subsequently annex it (4th February 1803) to the Tyrol. In 1805 Trentino becomes Bavarian. A rebellion breaks out, led by Andreas Hofer (who enters Trento at the head of 20 thousand rebels). Hofer's rebellion against the Bavarians and the French ends on 27th January 1810, when he is captured.
The re-annexation of Trentino to the Austrian Tyrol is ratified by the Congress of Vienna. For a century (until 1918) Trentino was annexed to the Hapsburg Empire, then the separation was fostered by the ever increasing affirmation of nationalistic and irredentist political groups. After the first world war, the northern borders of Italy were re-drawn across the Alps and Trentino was annexed to Italy. On the 5th September 1946 the De Gasperi-Gruber agreement was signed, basis upon which the 1972 Statute of autonomous government was drawn up and with which Trentino became an autonomous province.

Trentino and the legislative and administrative autonomy recognized by Italian Constitution.

In 1972 the Autonomous Statute became law and the Trentino Alto Adige Region was divided into the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano.The Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento discusses and approves laws in diverse social sectors and these measures are ratified by the central government in Rome. The Trentino autonomy was the subject of long and complex political and diplomatic negotiations between Italy and Austria as a result of the modification of the Italian frontiers at the end of the First World War. The autonomy of the Trentino Alto Adige Region was established in Paris in the agreement between Alcide De Gasperi and Karl Gruber (the Austrian Foreign Minister) in 1946, and then ratified by the Italian Parliament with a constitutional law in 1948. Another step was the "Paket" of laws passed in 1972 in which the administrative political role of the two autonomous provinces was recognized and, in practice, led to the present advanced institutional structure that has no equal in Italy.
In the Trentino-Alto Adige Region three languages are currently spoken: Italian, German and Ladin.

Castles
"In passing through that part of the central-eastern Alps cut through by the great Adige valley that, together with the adjoining valleys, forms a gigantic tree with its roots in the Adriatic sea, the traveller is impressed by the unexpected chain of castles"( Aldo Gorfer).
Trentino is disseminated with a large number of castles. The traveller who yields to the charm of CastelBeseno, or of Castel Thun, of Castello del Buonconsiglio or of Rocca di Arco – just to mention a few – will discover the fascinating history of Trentino preserved forever in their structure.

Churches, sanctuaries and hermitages
Trentino is an area rich in natural wonders. But it is also a land that preserves much evidence of the profound faith of its ancestors, a land which today re-echoes with a multitude of monumental and religious works of art. The deep faith of Trentino peoples is evident also in the large number of sanctuaries and hermitages spread throughout the land. Suffice it to say that between the end of the Middle Ages and the end of the 18th century (when they were suppressed by order of the Emperor of Austria Josef II), there were as many as 90 hermitages in Trentino.

Environment and Nature:

Groups, chains, isolated peaks, dolomite towers and spectacular spires, granite massifs, hills and mountains frame the horizon.
The mountains are the Trentino fortune, from the highest western massifs (Adamello-Presanella and Ortles-Cevedale), to the famous Dolomites, unparalleled world-wide, reflecting gold at sunset. These peaks and groups are part of the history of mountaineering and of mountain tourism: Dolomiti di Brenta, the Catinaccio, the Sella, the Sassolungo, the Marmolada and the Pale di San Martino. Climbs and excursions, on rock or snow, are paths to be experienced, step by step, in the silence of the wilderness and in the freedom of wide horizons. Places to discover, to learn to know and to love, during a fascinating and an active holiday.

Dolomites
The Dolomites, one of the symbols of Trentino, are unique mountains because the sun's rays give the rocks a fiery red glow at dawn and sunset, a phenomenum called "enrosadira". Peaks like the Torri del Vajolet or Campanil Basso di Brenta are known everywhere, and not only by mountaineers. The French maestro Le Corbusier defined these mountains, that emerged from the Thetis sea 250 million years ago causing a great upheaval of the earth's crust, as "the most beautiful work of architecture in the world". Water, wind and ice have sculptured the rocks over thousands of years to produce the present impressive line of peaks (many over 3 thousand metres high), pinnacles and spires. In 1788, the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu became curious and studied the origin and morphology and particular conformation (double carbonate of calcium and magnesium) of the milky-white rocks of the Monte Pallidi, rich in minerals and fossils and called the Dolomites in his honour.

Lakes and Waterfalls
Nearly ten per cent of the lakes in the Alps are in Trentino and for this reason the area has been called the little Finland. Here 297 expanses of water mainly of glacial origin (a total area of 35 square kilometres) dot the lowlands, highlands, mountains, forests and pastures up to the line of the glaciers. Another important feature of the natural beauty of Trentino is the large number of waterfalls. They flow from the numerous mountain springs of crystal clear water and from the glaciers that inundate the waterways of Trentino.

Parks, nature Reserves and Biotopes
There are three national parks in Trentino that together cover a surface area of about 900 square kilometres, equal to 14% of the province's territory. The Adamello Brenta Park in the west of Trentino and the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Park in the east enclose two totally different environments: glaciers and granite rock on the one hand and dolomite rock and huge conifer forests on the other, while the Stelvio National Park manages to combine all of these elements. The nature Reserves are specially protected areas of specific naturalistic interest. In Trentino there are 5 Nature Reserves, made up above all of forests and meadows

The secret wine cellar of Trentino
"…captured by the goodness of the wine, he immediately filled a jar to take home, but three ghosts stopped him and made him promise to take away just enough for him and his family and to keep the secret of the magic cellar. But one evening the foolish farmer threw a party and, carried away with good cheer, gave some of the fine wine to his friends. Suddenly, terrible cries were heard to echo round and the magic cellar faded away for ever. It is said that the cellar still exists, hidden away somewhere, but nobody reveals the secret...." ["The Ghost's Wine" – ancient Trentino Legend]
The secret cellar still exist, it is the size of all Trentino! In every corner of this land, you will find vines grown and you will probably taste wines belonging exclusively to that area. The art of winemaking has always belonged to the culture of Trentino; it is part of both the legends and the traditions. The territory seems to have been designed specially for the vines; in the mild climate of the Valle dei Laghi the land exposed to the sun provides the highly prized Vino Santo Trentino, made from overripe Nosiola grapes. On the stepped terraces borrowed from the mountains where the land steepens we find an extremely aromatic white wine: Műller Thurgau. In the valley beneath we find the Rotaliano plain which opens to the north and is home to the great Trentino red, Teroldego. Further south in Vallagarina we find the more gentle red, Marzemino. Sweet wines, reds, whites, rosè; sweet, yet among the finest spumante wines in Italy. In the hilly areas ripen the Chardonnay grapes which give us the refined and sophisticated Trento D.O.C spumante.