The mountain village of Gaido is the highest district of Appiano: Here you can experience seclusion and plenty of nature
Image gallery: Gaido
Guarded by the mighty Monte Macaion, whose rock faces tower high above the Adige Valley and are already visible from Bolzano, lies the northernmost part of Appiano. Gaido (Gaid) extends above Andriano and Nalles in the forests of the Mendola Ridge, but was already settled many centuries ago. Records from the Holy Spirit Hospital in Bolzano, the Heiliggeistspital Bozen as it was called, tell of the village of Gaude on the site of today's Gaido in the 14th century.
Hikers and mountain bikers can find a well-marked network of hiking trails and MTB routes here: Hidden between meadows and forests there is a small pilgrimage church, which was built by Eustach Franzin von Zinnenberg from Appiano and is dedicated to the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Together with the neighbouring Moarhof farmstead, it is now a listed building. Numerous votive panels, two magnificent oil paintings and a baroque altar adorn the interior of the chapel.
Other trails lead to Mt. Macaion, Andriano and Nalles. If you are travelling by bike, you can discover Predonico and the wine village of Cornaiano. Just below Gaido sits another impressive building: Castelforte Castle, a witness to the Middle Ages, rises on a porphyry rock above the Gaido Gorge. It was first mentioned in documents in 1220, but today only the keep of the complex is left.
