San Martino in Passiria (St. Martin in Passeier in German) is the largest town of the Passiria Valley, in the province of Bolzano, set not too far from Merano. It is the perfect starting point for excursions to the Texel Group Nature Park and interesting walks to meadows, mountain paths and pastures, until the romantic waterfall at Clava. Although the place name is attested since the first years of the XI century, it was a small mountain village until the first years of the last century, when there was a decisive increase in population and urban. Modern accommodation facilities and gym equipments coexist with typical Tyrolean houses, many of which are characterized by facades painted with wonderful frescoes of the local school of painting.
Attractions:
- the parish Church of San Martino, which also designed the town name, already mentioned in 1178, has four altars and a pulpit in Baroque style. Inside it is possible to admire valuable frescoes by the Passiria School of Painting ("Il Cenacolo" by Nikolaus Auer, "Il maggiore", "Il cuore di Gesù" by Nikolaus Auer, "Il minore" and "L'adorazione a Betlemme" by Josef Haller).
- the Church of Mörre;
- the waterfall at Clava;
- the seven Schildhöfe;
- the Home of the Passiria Painting of School, active from 1719 to 1845, visitable only on the outside; the façade has frescoes by the painters belonged to that artistic current.