Like the castle, so the place: Juval refers to both the mighty castle and the scattered settlement above the Val Senales valley
Image gallery: Juval
It seems to still belong to Naturno in the Merano region, the small Juval in the municipality of Castelbello-Ciardes at the entrance to the Val Venosta valley. Even if you search for the village, you will always be led to its castle, because far and wide the mighty castle is simply called "Juval". Between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, people already lived in this sunny spot.
From the valley floor, a small road leads up to the slopes of the Monte Sole, first to the Unterörtl Winery. Then the road continues uphill in bends to the Schlosswirt inn of Juval. There, the Archaeological Hiking Trail and the Ciardes Waalweg path cross the road, a recommendable hike along the traditional irrigation channels in the Lower Val Venosta. From Juval di Mezzo you then come to Juval di Sopra (Upper Juval) at about 1,300 metres a.s.l., where still a few buildings mark the end of the road on the Monte Sole. This is also the end of the scattered settlement of Juval.
The mentioned centre, Juval Castle, is a medieval castle with a Romanesque core. For a long time it was known as the summer residence of Reinhold Messner, and today it houses the MMM Juval, one of his Messner Mountain Museums, which in this case is dedicated to the "Myth of the Mountain". The most extensive Tibetan collection in the world can already be guessed from the statues that welcome you to the castle, in addition to a collection of masks from five continents.
