San Giovanni

Three districts of the municipality of Valle Aurina, San Giovanni, San Pietro and San Giacomo, owe their names to their respective church patron saints. In the case of San Giovanni, it is St. John the Baptist, to whom the parish church with its red domed tower is dedicated. It is known as one of the most beautiful baroque churches in South Tyrol and stands near the Weißenbachlhof farm. The church is also remarkable inside, with an ornate high altar by Franz Schöpf. Today, San Giovanni is the largest village in the municipality, but the administrative centre is the neighbouring village of Cadipietra.

Two small museums tell a lot about the Valle Aurina valley and the surrounding mountain world. One of them is the Oberkofler Museum in the birthplace of the Oberkofler brothers. Joseph Georg Oberkofler is considered an important Tyrolean author of peasant novels, Johann Baptist Oberkofler created many paintings and frescoes. In the hamlet of Mühlegg, on the other hand, you can admire a magnificent collection of minerals from the area of the Hohe Tauern and the Zillertal Alps. Not far away is the rustic Plattersäge, which was restored to be preserved for future generations.

A geological feature and popular destination is the Frankbach Waterfall with its marble troughs above San Giovanni. One of the sun paths in the Valle Aurina, the Hexensteig, leads you past it and further up to the Bizathütte hut, a place for families with a playground, pond and petting zoo. In winter, skiing on the neighbouring Klausberg and sledging are the order of the day. There are two routes for this, one of them is the cosy toboggan run at the Schwarzbachalm mountain hut.