Nalles
Nalles (in tedesco Nals) è un piccolo comune della provincia di Bolzano, adagiato sul versante occidentale della Val d'Adige a cir...
Mis à jour le 17 juillet 2026
En cette saison · Juillet · Été
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L'histoire de Nalles
Nalles Between Bolzano and Merano, in the Southern Burgraviato
Nalles lies on the western side of the Adige Valley, about 14 kilometres from Bolzano and 16 from Merano, and is the southernmost municipality of the Burgraviato, the historic administrative area centred on Merano. The village occupies the valley floor at roughly 300 metres above sea level, but the municipal territory climbs quickly westward to the woods and farmsteads above the hamlet of Sirmiano, set at 688 metres on the slope dividing the Adige Valley from the Tesimo plateau. Home to around 2,100 inhabitants, most of them German-speaking, Nalles keeps a compact urban layout, with its historic centre gathered around the parish church, and an economy still strongly tied to the countryside. It is also the northern starting point of the South Tyrolean Wine Route, the wine-tourism itinerary that winds south from here to Salorno, passing through Bolzano, the Oltradige and the Bassa Atesina.
Cantina Nals Margreid and the Winemaking Tradition
The nickname wine village attached to Nalles stems from a long winemaking vocation, today represented above all by Cantina Nals Margreid, a cooperative founded in 1932 as Cantina di Nalles and shaped into its present form in 1985 through a merger with the winery of Magrè-Niclara, in the Bassa Atesina. Together they bring in about 160 hectares of vineyard spread across fourteen different zones and entrusted to more than 130 grower families spread between Nalles, in the Adige Valley, and Magrè, much further south: a span that crosses different climates and soils and has made the winery a benchmark for South Tyrolean white wines. Nalles is also home to a rare, highly localised grape variety, Heiligenpergl, grown almost exclusively within this municipality. Castel Schwanburg, in the heart of the village, likewise houses an old private cellar with century-old barrels, a sign of how closely winemaking has been woven, for centuries, into the very history of Nalles.
The Castles of Nalles: Schwanburg and Payersberg
The skyline of Nalles is marked by two castles bound by the same family story. Castel Payersberg was built in 1220 by the Payr family on the slope rising toward Sirmiano, later passing to the Boymont family, who enlarged it in the sixteenth century; a fire in 1600 set it on a path of gradual abandonment, and today only the keep and a few structures remain, in private hands. It was precisely when the counts von Payersberg moved to the newly built Castel Schwanburg, raised in the heart of Nalles, that the fates of the two buildings diverged: Schwanburg, whose name recalls the swan, the family's heraldic symbol, is today among the best-known private residences in South Tyrol and houses what is considered one of the oldest private wine cellars in the region, still active. The two fortifications, though not always open inside, remain defining features of the landscape and tell an important chapter of the Burgraviato's feudal history.
Vineyards, Orchards and Trails between Nalles and Sirmiano
The farmed landscape of Nalles alternates vineyards, apple orchards and rose gardens, crops that have coexisted for generations on the terraces and valley floor and that also earn the village its second nickname, village of roses. Marked trails set out from the village centre, climbing through the rows of vines toward Sirmiano di Sotto and, higher up, Sirmiano di Sopra, where the small church of Santa Apollonia marks the highest point of a circular route that then continues toward Grissiano and Prissiano, through woods, orchards and wide views over the Adige Valley. Nalles is also a starting point for more demanding cycling routes, such as the classic loop around the Mendola Pass, which climbs as far as the Monzoccolo before descending back to the valley floor. This mix of different elevations, from the 300 metres of the village to the nearly 700 of Sirmiano and beyond along the higher trails, makes the municipal territory surprisingly varied for its modest size.
History, Asparagus and Experiences to Enjoy in Nalles
The origins of Nalles are documented as far back as the early Middle Ages: the village already appears in 842-843 as in villa Nalles in the land register of the Churrätisches Reichsgut, one of the oldest documents to mention places in the area. The bell tower of the parish church of St Ulrich preserves structures more than 700 years old, while in the hamlet of Obersirmian the small church of Santa Apollonia still marks the stages of walks toward the hillside farmsteads. Alongside this historic heritage, Nalles offers present-day experiences too: the Asparagus Weeks, held every spring, see the village's restaurants offer menus built around this locally grown vegetable and draw visitors interested in local cuisine, while guided tours with tastings at the historic cellar of Castel Schwanburg offer a close look at one of South Tyrol's oldest winemaking traditions, in a municipality that packs history, agriculture and landscape into little more than twelve square kilometres.
Not to be missed
- Castel Schwanburg, with its historic private cellar and guided tastings
- The ruins of Castel Payersberg, on the slope toward Sirmiano
- The white wines of Cantina Nals Margreid, among the best known in South Tyrol
- The hike from Nalles to Sirmiano di Sopra, past the small church of Santa Apollonia
- The Asparagus Weeks, in spring, at the village's restaurants
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