Borgo d'Anaunia
Borgo d'Anaunia is a municipality in the Alta Val di Non, in Trentino, created on 1 January 2020 by the merger of the municipaliti...
Updated 17 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Borgo d'Anaunia now
The story
The story of Borgo d'Anaunia
Borgo d'Anaunia in the Alta Val di Non
The municipality of Borgo d'Anaunia occupies the northernmost part of Val di Non, the valley carved by the Noce stream that the Romans called Anaunia. Formed through the administrative merger of Fondo, Castelfondo and Malosco, approved by a popular referendum in which the Yes vote prevailed in all three municipalities in December 2016, the new municipality has about 2,500 inhabitants spread across the main town of Fondo and the hamlets of Castelfondo, Malosco, Dovena, Raina, Tret and Vasio. The territory unfolds over a hilly plateau mostly between 1,000 and 1,300 metres, opening northward toward the Palade Pass and facing south onto the rest of Val di Non, with views that on clear days reach the Dolomite peaks of the Brenta group. This elevated position, cooler than the valley floor, has long favoured a rural economy based on fruit growing, livestock and woodland, and today accompanies a form of tourism attentive to nature and to a slower pace.
The Rio Sass Canyon, the Wild Heart of Fondo
The most famous attraction of Borgo d'Anaunia is the Rio Sass canyon, a gorge about three hundred metres long and up to sixty metres deep, carved by the stream of the same name right at the edge of the centre of Fondo. Since 2001, a system of walkways, small ladders and safe paths has allowed visitors to walk along the bottom of the gorge between sheer rock walls, small waterfalls and potholes shaped by the water, on a guided route suitable even for those with no canyon experience. Inside the canyon lie the remains of the Bagni di Fondo, a small spa active between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fed by an iron-rich spring, which in its golden age was visited even by Emperor Franz Joseph and Princess Sisi, drawn by the reputed healing power of its waters. Today a visit to the canyon can be combined with a walk through the historic centre of Fondo, where in Piazza San Giovanni a refined, handcrafted water clock still marks the hours with a hydraulic mechanism.
The Apples of Val di Non, a DOP Heritage
The landscape of Borgo d'Anaunia, like that of the whole valley, is shaped by the apple orchards that cover the hillside terraces up to roughly 900-1,000 metres, the source of Mela Val di Non, the first apple in Italy to receive Protected Designation of Origin status. The traditional varieties grown here, including Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Renetta del Canada, benefit from a mountain microclimate with strong day-night temperature swings, which produces fruit that is especially crisp and rich in natural sugars. Most of the harvest flows into the Melinda consortium, which brings together the agricultural cooperatives of Val di Non and Val di Sole. In spring, between April and May, the apple blossom turns the hills around Fondo, Castelfondo and Malosco into a single sweep of white and pink, a popular destination for walks and cycling; in autumn, by contrast, it is the harvest and the village festivals that set the community's rhythm, with celebrations dedicated to the valley's symbolic fruit.
Woods, Lakes and the Palade Pass
A short walk from the centre of Fondo lies Lago Smeraldo, an artificial basin with clear waters and the intense green colour that gives it its name, open for swimming in summer and a starting point for forest walks toward the Regole di Malosco, broad high-altitude meadows overlooking the valley. The municipal territory is crossed by the Palade Pass, at 1,518 metres, a historic crossing that leads from the Alta Val di Non toward Lana and Merano in the Val Venosta, used as a route since the Middle Ages and today popular with hikers and cyclists; nearby stands the Palade barrier, an imposing defensive work of the Alpine Wall now converted into a museum trail. Woods of Norway spruce and larch cover the slopes around Malosco, where trails such as the Sedruna path wind through large centuries-old conifers, while panoramic spots like the Desine offer views spanning from Val di Non to the Dolomite peaks of the Brenta group.
History, Castles and Experiences in the Alta Val di Non
The history of Borgo d'Anaunia has its roots in the era of the Anauni, a Rhaetian population that inhabited the valley before Romanisation and that in 46 AD received Roman citizenship under the edict of Emperor Claudius, recorded on the Tabula Clesiana now kept at Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento. In the Middle Ages the territory was contested between the Prince-Bishopric of Trento and local noble families: at Castelfondo stand the remains of the castle that served as the seat of the valley's Tyrolean jurisdiction, first mentioned in 12th-century documents and passed over the centuries under the control of the Rottenburg and Thun families, today privately owned and visible only from the outside. The 2020 administrative merger, which united three communities with centuries of separate history, today coexists with a widespread tourist offering of farmhouses, agritourism and small family-run businesses, offering stays among apple orchards, forest walks and canyon visits, in a corner of Trentino still less crowded than the valley's better-known areas.
Not to be missed
- The Rio Sass Canyon, the walkway-equipped gorge in the heart of Fondo
- The remains of the Bagni di Fondo, the old spa inside the canyon
- Lago Smeraldo and the walk toward the Regole di Malosco
- The water clock of Fondo in Piazza San Giovanni
- The Palade Pass and the ruins of Castello di Castelfondo
To see
What to see in Borgo d'Anaunia
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