Glorenza

Glorenza received town rights in the thirteenth century for its position on the salt road over the passes, was burned during the peasant uprisings of 1499 and 1525, and was rebuilt from 1550 with the walls that still stand: a complete circuit with three gates, round towers and a covered walkway along part of the rampart, enclosing a grid of arcaded streets. Because the town never grew beyond them, it is one of the smallest places in Europe to hold a full set of medieval town defences, with a population of around nine hundred. The arcades along the main street were built for market trading.

What you actually see

• The complete walls - a full circuit with three gates and round towers.
• The arcaded streets - covered market frontages along the main lanes.
• The scale - a town of about nine hundred people inside city walls.
• The rampart walk - a covered walkway along part of the wall.

When to go

April to October; the upper Venosta is cold and snowbound in winter, though the town stays open. Summer weekends bring cyclists on the valley route.

Honest expectations

The town is tiny and walked in half an hour. There are few sights beyond the walls themselves. Services and opening hours are limited off season.

Nearby

Lake Resia lies north; the Stelvio park is south.