Guided Walking Tour: The historical City Center of Bolzano

• Our excursion starts in Walther Square. This square was completed in 1808 by order of King Massimiliano di Baviera, and initially named after him. In 1901, it was dedicated to Walther von der Vogelweide (1170-1230), one of the great German poets and storytellers of the Middle Ages.
• On the same square we will admire the Cathedral of Bolzano, a late Medieval and a Romanesque Basilica (1180) completed around 1420 with the Gothic style of the Suevian mastery. The bell tower, with an open fretwork spire in sandstone, which stands 65m tall, was built by the Suevian architect, Hans Lutz von Schusseried, between 1501 and 1519.
• Our next stop is at the Dominican Church, a complex comprising a convent, a large nave and different chapels, and a magnificent cloister. The jewel of the entire complex is cappella di San Giovanni, a long and narrow side chapel with the most magnificent fresco cycle of the Giotto School in the province.
• We continue our walk through the Goethe Street and Piazza delle Erbe, a colourful and lively piazza, the heart of the city centre, that hosts the famous daily fruit and vegetable market (except on Saturday afternoon, Sunday and public holidays).
• We walk through the Mueseum Street and crossing the Talvera Bridge you find yourselves in front of the imposing structure of the Victory Monument, Monumento alla Vittoria (1926 - 1928);
• Again on Mueseum Street we reach the famous Portici (Arcades), once the heart of the medieval village. They have kept this characteristic to date with their seamless continuity of shops, some typical and traditional, others chic and modern.
• We stop by Piazza del Municipio (Town Hall Square) and then we walk up to the Piazza del Grano (Grain Square), where is located the Vicolo della Pesa, one of the oldest places in Bolzano, once hosting the castle of the Prince-Bishops of Trento (destroyed in 1277 by Mainardo II di Tyrolo) and the church of Sant’Andrea (destroyed in 1785). One of the most picturesque buildings of the city is situated to the north of this square:la casa della Pesa (1634), public weigh-house until 1780.