Summer Emotions

Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino Nature Park
In the Kingdom of the Deer
High above, the rose-coloured walls of the Dolomites and the dark rocks of the Lagorai dotted with pools of glacial origin;
lower down, dark green secular forests and expanses of alpine pasturelands. This is the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Nature
Park, situated on the far eastern side of Trentino and instituted in 1967.
It is the smallest of the three provincial parks covering an area of 197 square kilometres between an altitude of 700 and
2400 metres and has a huge spruce forest known as the Forest of Violins for the quality of its ‘resonant’ firs. The wood of
these trees is used to make the soundbox of pianos, violins, violoncellos and double basses. A quality already known by the
famous seventeenth century violinmakers, the Stradivari, Guarnieri and Amati, who used to come to Paneveggio to choose
the wood for their “harmonic jewels”.
Walking through the trees and mountains you may come across alpine animals and birds. This was the home of the deer for
many centuries until it became extinct. It has only recently been reintroduced and now the Park, where hunting is prohibited,
is a refuge and centre of distribution for this animal. You can see some deer at close range in the Paneveggio Visitor Centre.
Study meetings and environmental workshops are held in Villa Welsperg on Sundays.
www.parcopan.org
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Feeling good