Denno
Denno is a municipality in the lower Val di Non, in Trentino, set on a broad terrace on the right bank of the Noce river, halfway...
Updated 21 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Denno now
The story
The story of Denno
Denno in the Val di Non, on the Right Bank of the Noce
Denno lies in the lower Val di Non, the valley carved by the Noce torrent in the heart of northern Trentino, at an elevation of 429 metres above sea level. The municipality occupies a broad natural terrace on the right bank of the Noce, halfway between Mezzolombardo, at the mouth of the valley, and Cles, the main town of the Val di Non. The settlement lies between two minor side valleys, that of the Rio Pleggio and the one descending from the neighbouring village of Termon, in a sunny, sheltered position that has favoured its agricultural vocation for centuries. Behind the village rise the eastern slopes of the Campa mountain chain, which separates the Val di Non from the Tovel valley and culminates at 1,960 metres on Monte Corno, within the boundaries of the Adamello Brenta Nature Park. Here, at 1,507 metres, Malga Arza is a starting point for excursions toward the Brenta Dolomites, while further down, toward the valley floor, the landscape softens into cultivated terraces that descend to the course of the Noce.
The Apple Orchards and the Val di Non Apple
The economy of Denno, like that of much of the lower Val di Non, is today almost exclusively tied to apple growing. The terraces surrounding the village, once planted with vines and mulberry trees for silkworm rearing, were gradually converted during the twentieth century into intensive apple orchards, supported by the local Bassa Anaunia Fruit Growers' Consortium. Production falls under the Mela Val di Non DOP designation, recognised at European level, which includes historic varieties such as the Renetta Canada alongside more widespread cultivars like Golden Delicious and Gala. In spring the blossoming rows transform the landscape around Denno into a wide expanse of white and pink visible from afar, while in autumn the harvest sets the rhythm of village life. Alongside fruit growing, small activities linked to woodworking survive, heirs to an old local craft tradition of carpentry and carving.
The Rocchetta Gorge: the Noce Between the Rocks
Just downstream from the village, the Noce torrent narrows into a spectacular stretch known as the Rocchetta Gorge, where over the centuries the watercourse has carved a canyon between limestone walls. The area, recognised as a protected biotope by the Autonomous Province of Trento since 1992 and covering about 76 hectares, preserves one of the last remaining stretches of lowland riparian woodland in Trentino, with white willow groves and dense herbaceous and shrub vegetation along the riverbed. A barrier built during the First World War once closed off the valley at this narrow point, and its remains can still be seen in the area today. The stretch between the entrance to the gorge and Denno's station on the Trento-Malé electric railway, complete with an information point, can be followed along trails that allow visitors to observe the river environment and its wildlife up close, in a striking contrast with the neatly ordered apple orchards spreading out just above.
Churches and Historic Heritage
The centre of Denno preserves a religious and civic heritage of considerable interest. On the main square stands the church of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, rebuilt in 1542 in late Gothic forms with exposed natural stone. At the edge of the village stands the church of Sant'Agnese, a thirteenth-century building housing frescoes from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, while in a more isolated position lies the chapel of San Pietro Apostolo, considered the oldest church in the village and decorated with frescoes attributed to the Baschenis brothers, celebrated itinerant painters active between Trentino and the Bergamo area. Recalling the nineteenth-century economic fortune tied to silkworm breeding and silk spinning are buildings such as Palazzo Parisi, home to a family of silk industrialists, and Palazzo Paternoster, which retains elements of a Renaissance portico. No visible traces remain, however, of the ancient Castel Denno, the fortress of the De Enno lords that once dominated the village in the Middle Ages.
History and Experiences Between Past and Present
The history of Denno has roots in prehistoric times, attested by Bronze Age and Iron Age finds discovered in the area, and continues with a Roman presence documented from the third century onward. The village's name appears for the first time in 1174, as 'Heno', in a deed of the counts of Appiano, and for centuries the settlement was linked to the powerful De Enno family, from whose line the later Madruzzo, prince-bishops of Trento, and the Alberti d'Enno family descended. In the seventeenth century Denno was the birthplace of the sculptor Bartolomeo Strudel, founder of a carving workshop from which came his sons Paul, author of sculptures for Trento Cathedral, and Peter, founder of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. After annexation to Italy and the 1928 fascist merger into a 'great municipality', a 1951 referendum restored Denno's autonomy, definitively separating it from Campodenno in 1952. Today the village combines historical memory and rural economy in a way of life still marked by the rhythm of the apple orchard seasons.
Not to be missed
- Rocchetta Gorge, a protected biotope carved by the Noce torrent
- Church of San Pietro Apostolo with frescoes by the Baschenis brothers
- A walk among the blossoming apple orchards of the Val di Non in spring
- Church of Saints Gervasius and Protasius on the main square
- A hike from Malga Arza toward the Brenta Dolomites
To see
What to see in Denno
Routes · Trovido Route
