On a hill above the valley basin, the little Church of St. James, called “St. Jakob in der Au”, overlooks the towns of Bolzano and Laives
Image gallery: San Giacomo di Laives
.JPG)
Where the industrial zone of Bolzano ends, San Giacomo di Laives begins. One urban area merges seamlessly into the other: San Giacomo (St. Jakob) has retained its small-town character, while orchards spread out all around. The convenient location meets a rural atmosphere here. The immediate surroundings of the village are characterised by viticulture and above all by fruit growing, which reaches all the way to the wetlands at the Adige River and which gives the village the nickname St. Jakob in der Au, that's to say San Giacomo in the wetland.
St. Jakob in der Au is also the name of the little church above it. If you walk up there, you can look down on the green Adige Valley to the south and on San Giacomo and Bolzano to the north. The building itself is enchanting and combines Romanesque and Gothic elements: Inside, there is a Gothic winged altar from the 15th century. Other places that tell about the history in this part of South Tyrol are the ruins of the medieval Tinzlturm tower on the wooded Monte Regolo above San Giacomo and the Austrian Military Cemetery in the direction of Bolzano.
By bike, the town of Bolzano is easy to reach, but also by public transport. The bike is not only a convenient means of transportation here, but also offers the opportunity to discover the surroundings. The cycle paths in the valley basin are ideal for this, taking you from Laives to Salorno in the south, or from Bolzano in all directions: Lake Caldaro, Merano, Bressanone. On foot, the Madonna di Pietralba Pilgrimage Site and the Laives High Route are popular destinations.
