Varna
Varna (Vahrn in German) is a municipality in the Valle Isarco / Eisack Valley, in South Tyrol, lying just north of Bressanone (Bri...
Updated 17 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
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The story
The story of Varna
Varna and the Valle Isarco, at the gates of Bressanone
Varna lies in the lower Valle Isarco / Eisack Valley, just a few minutes from Bressanone (Brixen), sharing the valley floor crossed by the Isarco river and the historic road that once linked Italy to the Brenner Pass. The municipality, predominantly German-speaking, stretches from the valley floor up to the first wooded slopes climbing toward the Plose, taking in hamlets and farmsteads scattered among vineyards and orchards. Its strategic position along one of the main communication routes of the eastern Alps made Varna a place of passage since Roman times, when the Via Claudia Augusta Altinate ran through here. Today the village retains an orderly rural layout, with houses featuring pitched roofs and flower-decked balconies typical of South Tyrolean architecture, while the historic centre of Bressanone, with its cathedral and old town, remains just a short distance away, reachable even by bicycle along the Valle Isarco cycle path.
The Abbey of Novacella (Kloster Neustift)
The most celebrated monument in Varna is the Abbey of Novacella, one of the most important and best-preserved Augustinian monasteries in the entire Alpine arc. It was founded in 1142 by the Bishop of Bressanone, Hartmann, who settled canons regular of St Augustine here under the Augustinian rule, and the religious community has never interrupted its activity since, spanning almost nine hundred years of history. The complex, enclosed within fortified walls, presents itself as a true religious citadel, with an abbey church, cloister, library, wine cellar, guesthouse and service buildings gathered around internal courtyards. Alongside their spiritual life, the canons of Novacella have always combined pastoral care in the area's parishes with running a secondary school and an intense agricultural and winemaking activity, which has allowed the abbey to remain economically self-sufficient over the centuries and to become one of the cultural and religious reference points of the Valle Isarco.
The Gothic cloister, the library and the Baroque church
Inside the abbey, the Gothic cloister houses an extraordinary cycle of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century frescoes depicting biblical episodes and scenes from the life of the canons, one of the best-preserved medieval pictorial cycles in the region. Next to the cloister stands the historic library, famous for its octagonal hall nicknamed the 'Well of Wonders', which holds thousands of manuscripts, incunabula and antique volumes gathered over the centuries by the monastic community. The abbey church, originally Romanesque, was instead completely transformed in the Baroque period with stucco work, gilded altars and frescoes covering vaults and walls, in a sumptuous style typical of the great central European abbeys of the eighteenth century. A guided visit to the complex, winding through cloister, library and church, allows visitors to retrace almost a thousand years of the religious, artistic and cultural history of the Valle Isarco in a single place.
The cellar and the wines of the Valle Isarco
The Abbey of Novacella is also one of the most renowned historic wineries in South Tyrol, with a winemaking tradition dating back to the very foundation of the monastery. The vineyards, cultivated on the sun-exposed terraces surrounding Varna up to altitudes considered high by South Tyrolean standards, produce white wines of great finesse, in particular Sylvaner and Kerner, today among the most distinctive expressions of the Valle Isarco, alongside mountain Gewürztraminer. The abbey's cellar, which can be visited with guided tastings, combines modern winemaking methods with vineyard management attentive to tradition, and is considered by many enthusiasts an essential stop along the Valle Isarco Wine Route. Alongside wine production, the abbey also runs an herbalist's shop and a small store where visitors can buy wine, spirits and farm produce directly from the canons, in an experience that unites spirituality and wine culture.
Chestnut trees, the Keschtnweg and hikes toward the Plose
The territory of Varna is dotted with centuries-old chestnut groves, a legacy of traditional cultivation that for centuries supplemented the local farming economy with fruit, timber and fodder. Through these woods winds the Keschtnweg, the Chestnut Path, a hiking trail linking Varna and the neighbouring farmsteads all the way to Chiusa (Klausen), passing hamlets, chapels and historic farms immersed in greenery. In autumn, as the chestnuts ripen, the area comes alive with the traditional Törggelen, the farming custom of visiting farmsteads and inns to enjoy roasted chestnuts, new wine, speck and canederli, a convivial ritual deeply felt throughout South Tyrol. From Varna, trails and connections also lead up to the Plose plateau, a hiking and skiing destination above Bressanone offering views ranging from the Odle to the Fanes Dolomites, ideal for those seeking, after visiting the abbey, a more direct contact with the mountains.
Not to be missed
- The Abbey of Novacella (Kloster Neustift), founded in 1142
- The frescoed Gothic cloister and the historic library (the 'Well of Wonders')
- The Baroque abbey church with stucco work and gilded altars
- A tasting of the abbey cellar's wines: Sylvaner and Kerner
- The Keschtnweg (Chestnut Path) and the traditional autumn Törggelen
To see
What to see in Varna
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