The sunny hill is the oldest settlement in the area around Fiè allo Sciliar: Important archaeological finds were made here
Image gallery: Peterbühel
The settlement of Peterbühel, or Peterbühl (literally: Hill of St. Peter), is situated on a small hill in a sunny location. Actually, the hill, which towers high above the Valle Isarco valley, is an important historical site. This is where the beginnings of Fiè allo Sciliar and perhaps the entire Sciliar region lie, because people settled here many millennia before Christ, in the Early Bronze Age.
Today, St. Peter on the Hill, the little church with the square tower from the 13th century, stands a bit apart in the greenery. Above the door you can see the crossed keys of St. Peter, and next to it the coats of arms of the Thun and Firmian families: They were made by Regina von Thun and Katharina von Firmian, the two wives of Leonhard the Elder of Fié. The beautiful winged altar from the 16th century is on display in the Fiè Parish Museum.
The museum includes also the Fiè Archaeological Museum, because the finds from the "Peterbichl" hill are housed here. The interest of archaeologists was already aroused in 1939 when a primary school teacher found a female figure made of hammered sheet bronze here. Work then started in the 1950s and again in the 1990s: At that time, ceramic and metal finds were made at the "Heidenbühel" hill, including the fragment of a fibula from the La Tène period. Some of the metal objects were drawn, but unfortunately remained lost in the period that followed.
