Region Trentino Alto Adige (South Tyrol)

Historically under the domain of Austria for long centuries, in the Northern part of the region as a consequence the German language is spoken, and the region is officially bilingual. Famous for its production of apples and wines, the region has a greatly developed tourist industry, famous for its winter resorts, such as Madonna di Campiglio.

According to a number of archeological findings around the city of Trento, in antiquity the region was inhabited since very ancient times, being the valley of the Adige river a transit center between central Europe and Italy. And as a matter of fact the region always was a meeting point of the German and the Latin cultures. About 40 BC the region was conquered by the Romans and included in the Undecima Regio of the Empire with capital Truentum.

After the fall of Rome in 476 AD it was first occupied by the Goths, then by the Lombards, and in the late 8th century by the Franks, who united it administratively with Friuli. Then in 935 AD Trentino was separated from Friuli and entrusted by the Emperor ro the Bishop of Trento. In the 12th and 13th century the rise of the Communes engendered factions and intestine wars, so that Emperor Federico II of Swabia established an absolute, ruthless control on the region.

In the 16th century there took place a remarkable cultural and economic development, thanks to the enlightened rule of Bernardo Clesio and Cristoforo Madruzzo, and between 1545 and 1563 the region was the theater of the most important and famous Council of the Catholic Church, becoming the center of the conflict between Protestant and reform currents, that changed the face of the church completely. In the 16th and 17th century there was a decline, caused by the turmoil and wars in central Europe, to be finally included under Austria in 1777. During the Napoleonic wars Trentino was united to Tyrol and was for a time under Bayern, then with the Congress of Vienna was returned to Austria. Only after the First World War the region, at the time consisting of only one province, Trento, was finally united to Italy. Later on the Province of Bolzano was also established.