Barbian - Barbiano

In the centre of the village of Barbian you will probably find the most daring church tower in South Tyrol: a leaning tower that leans a whole 1.57 metres from the plumb line. 

At the foot of the Rittner Horn, on a mountain slope in the southern Eisack Valley, is the village of Barbian. The special feature of this village is the leaning church tower in the centre of the village, which leans a whole 1.57 meters from the plumb line. 

A very special church complex is located in the Bad Dreikirchen faction above Barbian. These are three Gothic-style churches whose walls from the 13th and 15th centuries overlap seamlessly. Legends entwine around their origins. Already in pre-christian times a heathen source shrine was said to have been in this area. The clerical building has already served illustrious guests such as Sigmund Freud or Christian Morgenstern as a holiday resort.

Historians suspect that even before Roman times, people were already moving through the area and then settled here. Numerous archaeological finds dating from the years between 15 B. C. and 476 A. D. testify to the fact that there was a settlement here much earlier. However, it is not known when the village was founded. The locality first appeared in history in 855. In a historical document listing the possessions of a local nobleman. 

Countless tours of varying degrees of difficulty stretch over the wooded mountain slopes to the surrounding villages or to the top of the Rittner Horn. A rewarding hike leads to the Barbiano waterfalls, for example, where the water falls thunderously into the depths in several cascades over the bare porphyry rock. From Barbian there is a wonderful circular hike through the dense forests of the Adige Valley. The path leads under high trees through chestnut groves. This is also where the esteemed sweet chestnuts thrive, which are processed into delicious South Tyrolean specialities, especially during the "Törggelen" season. The about 60 km long Keschtnweg, on which you can hike in several stages from Runkelstein Castle in Bolzano over the sunny slopes of the eastern Sarntal Alps, leads under chestnut trees and past the village of Barbian to Vahrn. Along the way, several inns invite you to linger and enjoy culinary adventures.

Barbian is also known for its plums. Just how varied and delicious this tasty pome fruit can be is demonstrated by the guest farms during the Barbians' plums week in September, during which everything revolves around this sweet fruit.