History, culture, art...

If you are a culture vulture, your stay in Naturns will be a particularly sumptuous feast!

Excerpt from “Naturns Past and Present” by Prof. Helmuth Gritsch (a native and honorable citizen of Naturn):

Although Naturns was only very recently “discovered” as a place to relax in and spend a holiday, the village itself is one of the oldest in Valvenosia. One clue about the time the village came into being is its name; according to linguists, the origin of the name Naturns is neither Germanic nor Romance, but dates back to even earlier pre-Roman times. The oldest traces of a settlement were found near the stone roof built from massive stone slabs in the “Neuräutl” at the foot of the Leitenhang above Kompatsch. The remains are silex fragments, which are attributed to the Neolithic Period some 5,000-6,000 years ago and which can now be found in Bolzano museum. Settlement remains dating from the early Bronze Age were also brought to light beneath the Unterortlhof at the mouth of the valley Schnalstal. During the Iron Age that followed fortifications were built in the Naturns area, as the name “Wallburg” on the left side of the valley at the foot of the Patleideregg confirms. During the 500 years of Roman rule the settlement was continually expanded, as can be concluded from the names of many village lands (Plaus and Kompatsch, for instance). However the most significant changes for the inhabitants of that time came with the spread of Christianity. The first wave of conversion, which came up the river Adige from the south via Verona and Trento, had already flooded Naturns when a second missionary campaign became necessary after Germanic peoples pushed their way into the Alpine valleys during the migration period. This second conversion offensive came from the West in the wake of the diocesan delineation which had by then been completed: Valvenosia, including Merano and belonged to the diocese of Chur until 1818. It is thanks to the prolific building activity of these missionaries that Naturns has several sights worth seeing.