San Martino in Passiria: sport holidays in the Tessa Group Nature Park

San Martino in Passiria, the most populated center of the Val Passiria valley, rises on the west bank of the Passirio River, near Merano. Once a village of painters, it has a lot of natural and cultural attractions: included in the nature reserve of the Tessa Group Nature Park, it is the perfect starting point for trekking and mountain biking tours, but here you can also play golf and visit the interesting town center. One of the most flourishing activities in this territory is the growing of the South Tyrolean apple.

The name of the village derives from the beautiful church with 4 altars and a Baroque pulpit around which the first houses were built around the year 1200. A local painting school was active between 1719 and 1845 and became quite famous in Tyrol. You can still admire some of the works of its painters on the walls of the houses and in the Malerhaus, the house of painters. Particularly interesting are the seven masi of the shield, traditional farmhouses you can visit only from the outside. Among these, worthy of mention are the Steinhaus, that reminds of a castel, and the Salthaus with its crenellated walls. The village has also a small museum exposing handicraft and farming tools and another church, the Mörre.

Located at the foot of the Matatz Mountian, San Martino is the ideal starting point for trekking tours in the nature reserve of the Tessa Group Nature Park and on the pastures rich of masi, waterfalls and tarns, like the Malga Pfandler, where Andreas Hofer took refuge, and the Clava waterfall. If you prefer other sports, near the village you find the 20 km long cycle track of the Val Passiria valley and one of the best golf courses in the Alps. You should definitely try the organic cheese of the local cheese factory, that produces also milk, yoghurt, sausages, speck...