Gomion’s notable buildings include a historic Shield Farm and an impressive hydroelectric power station
Image gallery: Gomion
If you drive from San Leonardo towards the Upper Val Passiria, you reach the small village of Gomion. Here stands one of the eleven remaining Val Passiria Shield Farms. These buildings, which resemble estates, are several centuries old. The Shield Farm owners of the 13th and 14th centuries had to serve the counts and sovereigns as squires. In return, however, they received a special status and privileges such as fishing rights in the Passirio River and the right to bear arms.
The Shield Farm of Gomion dates back to the Lords of Camian, whose most famous representative was an illegitimate son of Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia. On the edge of the village, near the bus stop, stands the Church of Maria Lourdes, a small single-nave church. The building from 1891 houses a wood-carved Madonna from Ortisei in the Val Gardena. Around three decades ago, a drinking water pipeline was planned to be built from the Schlattacher Meadows down to Gomion.
This resulted in the Gomion power station, which features a very high drop. At night, the high-pressure pump takes water from the catchment basin and pumps it through the pressure pipe into the reservoir located 1,060 metres higher up. This masterpiece of engineering is therefore also represented in the virtual collection of the Tecneum: South Tyrol's Engineering Mile brings cable cars, hydroelectric power stations and railway systems to life, both virtually and in reality.
The power of water is also illustrated on the "Passeirer Schluchtenweg" trail, which begins in San Leonardo and leads past Gomion. Via steel structures and stairs, the route brings you through the imposing Passirio Gorge to the exit at Moso in the Upper Val Passiria.
