Bolzano Rencio-Santa Maddalena

Dodiciville, Zwölfmalgreien in German, was the name of an old rural municipality, which is still commemorated today by the Zwölfmalgreienplatz square. In Italian it is called Piazza Dogana. It is located east of the old town at the foot of the Renon high plateau, where the main road reaches the train station and the valley station of the Renon Cable Car. Like many districts on the edge of the town, Rencio is older than the old town itself: It reminds of a small village with old manors and stately houses. In the centre stands the St. Lawrence Church, next to it the Lamplhaus building.

This building, also known as Windegg Residence, houses the Bolzano School Museum, a unique exhibition on German and Italian-language school history in South Tyrol. The catacomb schools and the Alpine School on the Monte San Vigilio - an exile school for Jewish pupils - are also part of it. When the school museum was established many years ago, it was the first of its kind in Italy and it was located somewhere else. Today South Tyrol has two school museums, this one and the small Tagusa School Museum near Castelrotto. Behind the Bolzano School Museum is the present-day German primary school of Rencio (Rentsch) in a historicist building from 1928.

Rencio is followed by the wine village of Santa Maddalena (Sankt Magdalena): The Maddalena Fair on July 22 is well-known far and wide, where the wine farms present the Sankt Magdalener wine of the last vintage. Together with the sunny wine terraces of Santa Giustina (Sankt Justina), Leitach and San Pietro (Sankt Peter), it is the largest wine-growing area in Bolzano and one of the best vineyard sites in South Tyrol. Especially in autumn, the vineyards are a beautiful sight from the hiking trails between Bolzano and the Renon high plateau. Together with the commercial area of Piani and the old town, this part forms the Bolzano Centro-Piani-Rencio district.