San Giovanni Aurina

Three districts of the municipality of Valle Aurina - San Giovanni, San Pietro and San Giacomo - owe their names to their respective church patron saints. In the case of San Giovanni, it is St. John the Baptist, to whom the church with its red domed tower is dedicated. It is known as one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in South Tyrol and stands near the Weissenbachl Farm. It is also remarkable inside, with an ornate high altar by Franz Schöpf. Today, San Giovanni is the largest village in the municipality, but the administrative centre is the neighbouring Cadipietra.

Two small museums tell a lot about the valley and its mountains. One of them is the Oberkofler Museum in the birthplace of the Oberkofler brothers. Joseph Georg Oberkofler is considered an important Tyrolean author of peasant novels, Johann Baptist Oberkofler created many paintings and frescoes. In the hamlet of Costa Molini (Mühlegg) you can admire a magnificent collection of minerals from the area of the High Tauern and the Zillertal Alps at the Kirchler Mineral Museum. Not far away is the Platter Sawmill, which was restored to be preserved for future generations.

A geological feature and popular destination is the Rio Rosso Waterfall with its marble troughs above San Giovanni. One of the Valle Aurina Sun Paths, the Witches' Path, leads you past it and further up to the Bizat Hut, a place for families with a playground and a pond. In winter, skiing on the neighbouring Klausberg Ski Arena and tobogganing are the order of the day. There are two sledge runs for this, one of them is the cosy route at the Schwarzbach Mountain Hut.