Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ALTO ADIGE (SÜDTIROL)
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Bolzano (Bozen)
POP 104, 000 / ELEV 265M
The provincial capital of Alto Adige (Südtirol, or South Tyrol) is anything but provincial.
Once a stop on the coach route between Italy and the flourishing Austro-Hungarian Em-
pire, this small city is worldly and engaged, a long-time conduit between cultures. Its qual-
ity of life - one of the highest in Italy - is reflected in its openness, youthful energy and an
all-pervading greenness. A stage-set-pretty backdrop of rotund green hills sets off rows of
pastel-painted town houses. Bicycles ply riverside paths and wooden market stalls are laid
out with Alpine cheese, speck (cured ham) and dark, seeded loaves. German may be the
first language of 95% of the region, but Bolzano is an anomaly. Today its Italian-speaking
majority - a legacy of Mussolini's brutal Italianisation program of the 1920s and the more
recent siren call of education and employment opportunities - looks both north and south
for inspiration.
