Villa Santa Caterina

The smallest district of the municipality of Brunico, Villa Santa Caterina, is situated in a sunny position below Mount Kofel

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Fields near Villa Santa Caterina, literally the village of St. Catherine, in summer: This locality near Brunico is called Aufhofen in German.
Foto: AT, © Peer
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The name comes from the church’s patron saint: The village church is dedicated to one of the most famous saints, St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Foto: BS, © Peer
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Villa Santa Caterina has existed as a village since the 10th century, but its settlement dates back much longer, as archaeological finds show.
Foto: MS, © Peer
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Historical buildings such as the Ansiedl and Steinburg Residences or the rectory give an idea of the village’s important role in past times.
Foto: MS, © Peer
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The rectory, decorated with elaborate façade paintings, is housed in the listed Mohrenfeld Residence in the village centre.
Foto: AT, © Peer
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From the centre, a small road branches off upwards and takes you to the football pitch and the climbing garden at the Aufhofner Kofel.
Foto: BS, © Peer
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Chapel near Villa Santa Caterina: The field paths lead from the village on foot or by bike to Gais, where the “Baggalocke” invites you to take a swim.
Foto: AT, © Peer
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In summer, the white, delicately fragrant elderflowers are made into elderberry juice with water, sugar and citric acid.
Foto: MS, © Peer
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View towards Villa Santa Caterina on a winter day: Sometimes the first white flakes cover the earth already in November.
Foto: BS, © Peer
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Villa Santa Caterina, once an important administrative centre, today is situated at more than 800 m a.s.l. in a climatically favourable and particularly sheltered position.
Foto: BS, © Peer
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The Brunico ski bus runs in winter between the town of Brunico, the surrounding villages and the Plan de Corones valley station in Riscone.
Foto: BS, © Peer

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A few meadows and fields separate the houses of Villa Santa Caterina (Aufhofen) from the villages of Teodone and San Giorgio, which are both reachable in a pleasant walk. If you follow the road coming from Teodone, the houses first stretch up the hill to the right of the road until you reach the centre. Then they are on both sides of the narrow village road. One of them that particularly stands out is the Ansiedl Residence in the middle of a large garden.

On the village square of Villa Santa Caterina, the parish church peeks out from behind a courtyard: It was mentioned in 1360 AD, but not as the year of construction, but as the year in which it was already renovated. The building is therefore one of the oldest in the entire valley basin of Brunico. It seems to have been settled since prehistoric times - a flint blade from the Palaeolithic Age was found in Villa Santa Caterina. Today, the village nestles on the northern slope of the valley basin of Brunico and is known for its hiking and cycling trails that criss-cross the surrounding area.

"Through the fields" you can get from Villa Santa Caterina to San Giorgio, to Gais at the entrance to the Valli di Tures and Aurina, and to the natural climbing garden on the Aufhofner Kofel, one of the climbing gardens of the Val Pusteria. Routes of various degrees of difficulty run through the rock here. When snow covers the village, the ski bus connects it with the Plan de Corones Skiing Area.

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