The ancient trades path Grauno Grumes Sover Piscine

This "Old trades trail" bears witness to the various agroforestry activities that families carried out in this area in the past

The 'Sentiero dei vecchi mestieri' (Old trades trail) follows ancient paths that have linked the two sides of Valle di Cembra from time immemorial. Whereas the existence of such paths helps explain, for instance, why in the past young people from Sover frequently ended up marrying young people from Grauno or Grumes, the presence of paths across the 'Dossone di Cembra' (i.e. the ridge separating Valle di Cembra from Valle dell'Adige) paved the way for seasonal workers to descend to the Unterland/Bassa Atesina (the area around Auer/Ora, Neumarkt/Egna and Salurn/Salorno). Following severe flood damages in 1966, the network of cross-river paths seemed to have been lost for ever, but extensive restoration work is now under way. The trail reweaves the ethnographic fabric of the Upper Valle di Cembra as it once was and makes it possible to see and/or visit various ancient man-made structures and tradesmen's workshops, some of which remained in use until the 1950s: limekilns (they are, admittedly, not easy to spot in a geological landscape that is so overwhelmingly dominated by the presence of Permian porphyry); watermills driven by water diverted from impetuous streams; and smithies. The trail also has a naturalistic facet which is just as fascinating as the ethnographic one: the gorge of the Avisio River is namely a striking example of pristine, wild, untamed landscape. From Grauno, the route takes you down to the Avisio River first along pleasant roads, then along paths through wild, fascinating landscape. In the past, the inhabitants of Grauno used this route to reach plots of cultivated land that extended almost right down to the bank of the Avisio River. The route was also used to do small trade with Sover, Montesover and Piscine or just to visit friends or relatives on the other side of the river. Such contacts were suddenly interrupted when the bridge across the river ('Pont da La Rio') was swept away by floods in 1966 and they could only be resumed 43 years later, i.e. when the bridge was rebuilt in 2009. At Maso dei Molini (a small cluster of watermills on the opposite bank of the river), you can turn left into the 'Sentiero dei vecchi mestieri'. This very picturesque route runs along the bank of the river for quite a while before reaching Maso Pianacci. From there, a steep road takes you to Piscine. In order to get from Piscine to Sover, you can either take a dirt road (fitness trail) that forks off in the lower half of the village or ignore that fork, follow the main (i.e. provincial) road, and walk back down to Maso dei Molini. After crossing back the Avisio River, you reach Maso La Rio, and from there you can walk along another section of the Old Trades Trail which takes you back to Grauno. From Maso La Rio, the route takes you past the ruins of watermills that were abandoned in the 1960s to two recently restored workshops: a smithy and a Venetian-type sawmill (the latter stands by the old main road). Higher up, you come across another watermill ('Molino Cristofori'). From there, it's only a few minutes' walk to Grauno. This trail never fails to leave hikers with a number of unforgettable sights.

source www.visitpinecembra.it

opening times

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

For guided tours: Società sviluppo turistico Grumes (Grauno and Grumes) 0461 / 688003, Marco Vettori (Sover and Piscine) 348 / 4258325, www.sviluppogrumes.it


organized by Museo degli usi e costumi della gente trentina