Vangabassa

The small hamlet of Vangabassa (Niederwangen, that's to say Lower Vanga) used to be known as Hinterwangen or Innerwangen: Today, together with 27 other districts and hamlets, it forms the municipality of Sarentino, which covers the entire valley. If you follow the road from Vangabassa uphill, you will come to the village of Vanga (Wangen) on the sunny plateau of the Renon.

The single farms of Vangabassa spread out between the Talvera River at an altitude of about 700 m, which runs all the way to Bolzano, and the slope above it. Between flow the Rio Danza and the Osterbach streams, for a few years an important place throughout Europe: When the county of Tyrol was divided after the suppression of the Tyrolean Rebellion against Napoleon and the Bavarians in 1809, the southern part became part of the Kingdom of Italy. The border between Italy and Bavaria was marked at the Rio Danza and the Osterbach streams until the unity of the country was restored at the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15.

Among the local population, Vangabassa is known for its industrial estate with wood processing companies around the roundabout, where everyone passes by on the way to the Val Sarentino. Numerous possibilities for ski tours and snowshoe hikes, for cross-country skiing and sledging characterise the rustic Sarentino Valley in winter. Snow is usually abundantly available: While the rear part towards the Passo Pennes, the Pennes Valley, offers wonderful circular cross-country skiing tracks, the San Martino Ski Area can be found in the Valdurna Valley. Culinary experiences are also not far away, ranging from the highest Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy near Sarentino village to the "Sarner Striezln" with bacon offered in the wooden huts at the Christmas Market.