Castel Novale

If you drive towards Sarentino after the Talvera Meadows, immediately after the allotment gardens and Roncolo Castle you come to Castel Novale, "die Sill" in German. It consists only of a few houses between Novale Castle (or Ried Castle) and the animal shelter. They are already on the municipal territory of Renon. The castle rises a bit hidden next to the road and pales in comparison to Roncolo Castle, famous throughout Europe as "The Painted Castle", right next to it.

Novale Castle is inhabited and cannot be visited, but like most castles in South Tyrol it has an interesting story to tell. The basin at the entrance to the Val Sarentino was strategically important, and so the complex was built as a moated castle: Its walls were washed around by the Talvera, it is one the few fortifications that was never conquered. Today the river, which gives its name to the Talvera Meadows, flows past it. Petre Şchiopul "the lame" resided here in the 16th century. He was general of the Principality of Moldavia, several times on the run from the Turks, and was sent from Vienna to the castle. His gravestone is in the Franciscan Monastery in Bolzano.

In winter, the inhabitants of Bolzano liked to go ice skating in Castel Novale. Here you could find the covered ice rink, which was also used for training. During the next years, it will be replaced by a new ice rink that will be situated in a more central position near the Ponte Palermo bridge. After Castel Novale, the road winds into the Sarentino Valley, with a turn-off at the "Sarner Imbiss" snack station, as a small mountain road on the right it leads up to the Renon High Plateau to Vanga.