VAL DI NON: APPLE BLOSSOM & PHANTOM BRIDGES
April is Apple Blossom time in the mountain Valley Non (Val di Non, Trentino, Alto Adige) a district of Trentino bordering on the Dolomites. The Val di Non is celebrated for its apple production and organizes special itineraries to the orchards, the farms and the best viewing spots for blossom photography. There is also an “Adopt an Apple Tree” initiative, aimed at families, who, for a modest fee, have exclusive rights to all the fruit it produces the following autumn.
Another special attraction of the valley is its “phantom bridges” that rise out of the waters of the 8 km-long Santa Giustina lake. The lake, formed by the damming of the Noce River in 1951, covers the valley floor, submerging the old farms, hamlets and mule tracks that once traversed the area.
Every spring, however, the water level is lowered and three ancient bridges, including one dating back to Ancient Rome and another medieval, emerge from the water like phantoms from another age, constituting another major tourist draw..
When it was built, the Santa Giustina dam was the highest dam in Europe, rising to a height of 152,50 m..
