Mals

Austere Romanesque belfries and stone towers welcome the traveller at the entrance to the historic village of Malles Venosta, located in an Alpine setting dominated by the peaks of the Ortles-Cevedale massif. The village is situated at the point where three valleys converge into the Adige river, which made Malles Venosta almost an obligatory trading post for the exchange of goods between Austria, Germany and Northern Italy.

The old town of Malles is home to a number of 16th-century houses (like the Lichtenegg or the Malsegg) plus what remains of a large round tower, which was once part of a castle. But the star attraction of any visit to Malles Venosta is the Church of St Benedict. It is said that in the early Middle Ages, worshippers from all over Europe would come to pray at this church, where you can still see some extremely rare frescoes from the Carolingian age, dating from the 11th century.