Ville di Fiemme
Ville di Fiemme is a municipality in Trentino created on 1 January 2020 from the merger of three ancient communities of the Val di...
Updated 21 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Ville di Fiemme now
The story
The story of Ville di Fiemme
Ville di Fiemme in the Val di Fiemme: Three Villages in One Municipality
Ville di Fiemme is a municipality in Trentino created on 1 January 2020 through the merger of the former municipalities of Carano, Daiano and Varena, which today form its main hamlets together with Cela, Solaiolo, Aguai, Calvello and the locality of Veronza. Covering around 46 square kilometres, the territory occupies the sunny side of the Val di Fiemme, the valley carved by the Avisio stream that separates the Lagorai range from the Trentino Dolomites, between Cavalese and Tesero. The various settlements are arranged on moraine terraces at altitudes between roughly one thousand and twelve hundred metres, with Daiano, the seat of the town hall, among the highest inhabited centres of the valley. This favourable exposure, together with open views over the surrounding mountain ranges, has always made the territory suitable both for permanent settlement and for farming and pastoral activity, features that the three former municipalities already shared before administrative unification and that still define the identity of the new municipality of Ville di Fiemme today.
The Dolomites of Fiemme in the Ville di Fiemme Panorama
From the terraces on which Carano, Daiano and Varena stand, the eye sweeps across a wide array of peaks surrounding the Val di Fiemme: to the north rise the dolomitic walls of the Latemar, the massif marking the border with the province of Bolzano, while to the south stretch the gentler but imposing ridges of the Lagorai and, further away, the spires of the Pale di San Martino. The municipal territory does not directly include the Latemar ski facilities, which lie in the neighbouring municipality of Tesero, but Ville di Fiemme offers one of the most striking vantage points over the whole massif, thanks to the altitude and exposure of its villages. Trails and scenic roads linking the hamlets provide photogenic views of the Dolomites in every season, from spring blossoms to the autumn colours of the larches and the snow-covered walls of winter, making the municipality a quiet base for those who wish to admire the Dolomites of Fiemme without giving up the calm of a still strongly rural landscape.
Pastures, the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme and Local Traditions
Like the rest of the valley, the territory of Ville di Fiemme falls within the remit of the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme, the ancient institution that, since the Middle Ages, has managed the woods and pastures of the entire Val di Fiemme collectively, one of the longest-standing models of community property in Europe. Around the settlements, alpine huts and hay meadows still testify to an agro-pastoral culture that has never been entirely abandoned. This tradition is joined by customs specific to each hamlet: in Carano the Banderal is handed down, an ancient ceremony of the village's bachelors celebrated every four years on the last day of Carnival; in Varena, since 1989, a large nativity scene set up in the village covers around seven hundred metres of path and two thousand five hundred square metres of scenery; in Daiano, the Casa Begna preserves ethnographic evidence of rural life, while a small house-museum recalls the priest-painter Antonio Longo, born in the village in 1742.
Skiing, Nature and the Lavazè Pass
Varena, the highest hamlet and the closest to the mountains, lies at the foot of the Corno Nero, near the Lavazè Pass, a plateau that marks the border with South Tyrol and is a destination in both summer and winter. On the pass there is a network of more than eighty kilometres of cross-country and alpine ski trails, renovated for the 2013 Val di Fiemme Nordic Ski World Championships, which brought the valley to international attention. In summer the same plateau, with its spruce and larch woods and high-altitude pastures, becomes a starting point for hikes toward the Lagorai or for simple family walks at altitude. At lower elevations too, between Carano and Daiano, a network of trails and country lanes crossing woods, orchards and meadows allows visitors to move on foot or by bicycle between the hamlets, through a landscape still marked by fieldwork and the rhythm of the seasons.
History, Churches and Experiences to Enjoy
The origins of the settlements of Ville di Fiemme are ancient: Carano, whose name is thought to derive from the Latin Cadranum, has roots going back to Roman times and is documented as early as 1188, while Varena is among the oldest settlements in the valley, rebuilt after a serious fire destroyed it in 1765. The three main churches hold a notable artistic heritage: the church of San Nicolò in Carano, built in the 12th century and restored several times; the church of San Tommaso in Daiano, dating back to 1193; and the church of Santi Pietro e Paolo in Varena, consecrated the same year and enriched with medieval frescoes and works by Valentino Rovisi, a pupil of Tiepolo, and by the so-called Master of Lisignago. Rounding out the historical picture are the Castel Croda, a fortified sixteenth-century dwelling, and the Colonia Pavese of 1934, a building that recalls the era of climatic holiday stays in the valley. Visiting Ville di Fiemme today means alternating visits to churches and small hamlet museums with walks among the masi, in a municipality that brings three distinct identities together into a single mountain story.
Not to be missed
- Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo in Varena, with frescoes by Valentino Rovisi
- Varena's large artistic nativity scene, set up every year since 1989
- Lavazè Pass: cross-country and alpine skiing in winter, hiking in summer
- Casa Begna and the house-museum of painter Antonio Longo in Daiano
- The Banderal ceremony in Carano, celebrated every four years
To see
What to see in Ville di Fiemme
Routes · Trovido Route
